We herein report the case of a 42-year-old man who presented with a huge intrathoracic mass that had grown over a period of 25 years. The initial symptom caused by the mass was dull pain in the chest. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mosaic pattern of various signal intensities, indicating a chronic expanding hematoma. The mass was completely resected surgically. For patients who present with a slowly growing mass, particularly those with a history of tuberculous pleuritis, chest surgery or trauma, a chronic expanding hematoma should be taken into consideration. Surgical resection is the first choice of treatment for a chronic expanding hematoma caused by a blunt chest trauma.
Keywords: chest injury; chronic expanding hematoma; diagnosis; surgery.