MR imaging of a posterior mediastinal ganglioneuroma: fat as a useful diagnostic sign.

We report a case of a ganglioneuroma that was found incidentally on a CT of the abdomen in a 27-year-old woman with gastrointestinal symptoms. The tumor, though located in the posterior mediastinum, demonstrated an unusual feature of abundant adipose tissue on MR imaging. The mass was later resected, and adipose tissue intermixed within a ganglioneuroma was identified microscopically. Adipose tissue is a rare finding in a ganglioneuroma, but this radiographic feature may be useful in the evaluation of posterior mediastinal masses.