Mediastinal duplication of the gut.

Duplication cysts of the mediastinum are not common. Morrison (1958) includes six in a series of 332 mediastinal cysts and tumours; in his Table 1 (which includes his own series) 15 gastric and enterogenous cysts were found in a total of 1,055 published cases of mediastinal cysts and tumours, an incidence of 1 5 %. Although cases have been described (Mixter and Clifford, 1929; Gross, Neuhauser and Longino, 1950; Gross, Holcomb and Farber, 1952; Dickson, Clagett and McDonald, 1946; McLetchie, Purves and Saunders, 1954), it is unusual for duplications ,of the gut to extend from the abdomen through the diaphragm into the mediastinum. Details of two cases of mediastinal duplication of the gut occurring in childhood are presented in this communication to illustrate a possible aetiological mechanism.