Posterior mediastinal masses encompass a varied group of surgical lesions t
hat include malignant diseases as well as the anatomic malformations of fou
r organ systems. The authors report on a 2-year-old child with a posterior
mediastinal mass who was found at thoracotomy to have a chronically infecte
d "hepatized" azygous lobe of the right lung. The I authors review current
literature on this topic as well as the embryogenesis of azygous lobes. J P
ediatr Surg 33:1829-1830. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.