[Giant fibroma of the pleura. Apropos of 2 cases].

Two cases are reported of giant pleural fibroma (2.9 and 4.2 kg), of slow growth (both had been present for 17 years), developing in the parietal pleura in a 56-year-old woman and in the triangular ligament of a 35-year-old man respectively, and treated by surgical excision. Findings in these cases and data on those reported in the literature indicate the principal pathologic and clinical characteristics of these very rare benign tumors of the pleura: onset in the absent of any history of exposure to dust (asbestos); usually fortuitous discovery; suggestive radiological appearances (calcification in some cases) that are not pathognomonic however; differentiation from fibrous mesothelioma by the microscopic or particularly gross pathologic appearance; treatment exclusively surgical and of variable difficulty according to the size of and especially the structures related to the tumor, with the need for careful preoperative screening.