BACKGROUND: Solitary fibrous tumors of the middle mediastinal space are uncommon and often not discovered until symptoms secondary to compression of adjacent structures occur. Diagnosis requires surgical biopsy and histological tissue analysis. We describe the ECHO appearance of the solitary fibrous tumor and successful non-invasive EBUS diagnosis. This method of diagnosis allowed for surgical planning for resection and allowed us to exclude non-surgical diseases, such as small cell carcinoma.

CASE REPORT: A 32-year-old man presented to his primary care physician with worsening intermittent chronic chest pain with recent progressive dysphagia, cough, and dyspnea. Physical examination and routine laboratory work-up were unrevealing. Chest radiograph and computed tomography (CT) of the chest revealed a middle mediastinal mass. Flexible bronchoscopy confirmed extrinsic compression of right and left bronchial trees. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) was used to biopsy the mass and the diagnosis of solitary fibrous tumor was confirmed. The patient underwent successful tumor resection and was discharged home after an uneventful postoperative period.

CONCLUSIONS: Endobronchial ultrasound-directed tissue biopsy is an appropriate modality for suspected solitary fibrous tumors of the mediastinum. To our knowledge, this is only the second reported case of SFT diagnosed by EBUS-TBNA. Our case uniquely demonstrates the advantages of pre-surgical diagnosis of mediastinal masses with EBUS-TBNA when the diagnosis SFT is suggested on CT and US imaging.

Keywords: Biopsy, Fine-Needle, Bronchoscopes, Mediastinal Neoplasms, Solitary Fibrous Tumors, Ultrasonography