Abstract
BackgroundThymic carcinomas are usually detected in the anterior mediastinum. Thymic carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum and showing an image of a cyst is extremely rare.Case presentationA 64-year-old man with a middle mediastinal tumor detected incidentally by a CT scan was referred. Chest CT showed an entirely cystic mass in the middle mediastinum between the bilateral brachiocephalic vein and trachea. We resected the tumor completely in the right recurrent nerve because it had invaded the nerve. Immunohistochemical features showed a thymic carcinoma pattern. The final diagnosis was thymic squamous cell carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum.ConclusionTo our best knowledge, this is the first report of a thymic carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum, as demonstrated by histopathological findings with immunohistochemical features.
Highlights
Thymic carcinomas are usually detected in the anterior mediastinum
We report a rare case of thymic carcinoma in the middle mediastinum that had cystic findings on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
To our best knowledge, this is the first report of a thymic carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum, as demonstrated by histopathological findings with immunohistochemical features
Summary
Thymic carcinomas are usually detected in the anterior mediastinum. Thymic carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum and showing an image of a cyst is extremely rare. Fewer than 4% of thymic tumors occur in the middle mediastinum, defined as mediastinal space surrounded by the left brachiocephalic vein, superior vena cava, esophagus, trachea, and main bronchus up to the cross section of the left brachiocephalic vein and the center of the trachea by the Japanese Association for Research on the Thymus [1]. There are few reports of middle mediastinal thymic carcinomas histopathologically diagnosed as having immunohistochemical features. We report a rare case of thymic carcinoma in the middle mediastinum that had cystic findings on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
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