Mediastinal gossypiboma simulating a malignant tumour.

Gossypiboma or textiloma are two terms used to describe any cotton matrix such as gauze pads left behind during an operation in the body cavities. They may lead to infections or abscess formations, or may mimic malignant tumours. Here, we present a woman with a history of a previous operation on her thorax who became symptomatic 25 years after the operation because of retained surgical gauzes covered by fibrinous materials with adhesions to the left lung. The cotton matrix had developed into a gossypiboma mimicking a mediastinal tumour.