Thymomas and thymic cysts.

Abstract

During a period of 20 years, 19 patients with thymomas and 5 with thymic cysts were surgically treated at this clinic. Excluding one operative death, none of these patients had died of causes related to the tumour 7.4 years (average) after operation. Two patients had died of unrelated causes, and in one case a recurrent mediastinal tumour was observed 3.5 years postoperatively. Myasthenia gravis, present at the time of operation in 3 cases, had been alleviated in one case, remained unchanged in another and become aggravated in the third case. In addition, one patient had developed myasthenia 7 years after resection of thymoma. In one case, a preoperative tentative diagnosis of lupus erythematosus disseminatus had been confirmed. Infiltrative growth was mascroscopically observed in only 2 cases. One of these patients died of haemorrhage during the operation; the other patient was in good health 1.5 years after partial resection and subsequent irradiation of the tumour. Four patients received radiotherapy. In one of the 15 cases treated solely by operation, the tumour fell to pieces on resection; a recurrent mediastinal tumour (cf. above) was removed 3,5 years later.