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Richard O. Friday, MD
University of Wisconsin Center for Health Sciences Madison

JAMA. 1973;226(1):82.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Pleuropericardial cysts rarely cause symptoms, and they are usually discovered as an incidental finding on a chest x-ray film. Their importance rests with the problem of distinguishing them from malignant tumors.

Pleuropericardial cysts most commonly occur in the right cardiophrenic angle, but other sites such as the left cardiophrenic angle, the hila, and the anterior mediastinum have been reported. The majority are between 3 and 8 cm in diameter and on x-ray film they are seen as smooth, sharply demarcated, spherical or oval masses. If the cyst extends between the middle and lower lobes, the superior portion may be flattened so that the cyst assumes the shape of a teardrop.¹ In the past, a thoracotomy was necessary to prove that these asymptomatic masses were benign. We recently examined a patient with a right paracardiac mass and established its cystic nature by ultrasound examination; its benignity was . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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