The Division of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) offers comprehensive testing and advanced treatment for patients with mediastinal disease. Located in the middle of the chest, the mediastinum is the space between the lungs, containing lymph nodes, the heart, aorta, thymus gland, trachea and esophagus. The mediastinum can be the site of cancerous (malignant) and non-cancerous (benign) tumors, including germ cell tumors and teratomas, lymphoma, neurogenic tumors, thymoma and thymic cancer. Sarcoidosis, a non-cancerous inflammatory disease can involve mediastinal lymph nodes.
Mediastinal conditions can be difficult to diagnose as the symptoms often mimic other diseases. Brigham and Women’s Hospital board-certified thoracic surgeons have sub-specialty training in the diagnosis and surgical management of mediastinal disease, with particular expertise in minimally invasive techniques such as video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and robotic-assisted procedures. We are the surgical team for Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, an exceptional collaboration between two world-class medical centers. All of our surgeons are faculty at Harvard Medical School and many are physician-researchers at the forefront of new therapies and cures—advancing their studies from laboratory to direct patient care.
We collaborate with specialists throughout BWH and communicate openly with clinical and administrative staff, working as one cohesive team to provide the best possible care for each patient. In addition, patients have full access to world-renowned Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Thoracic surgery services are available at Brigham and Women’s Hospital main campus, at Milford Regional Medical Center in Milford, and in Weymouth at Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center at South Shore Health.
