Highlights
- •Ectopic thymoma is generally reported as a case.
- •Our search found that atrial ectopic thymoma has not been reported, and our report may be the world's first.
- •We collected 8 cases of ectopic thymoma at various, reviewed the literature, and described its epidemiology and CT findings.
Abstract
Objective
To analyze the computed tomography (CT) and clinical features of ectopic thymoma,
and to be familiar with the CT diagnosis of this disease.
Materials and methods
CT data, clinical data, and pathological data of eight cases of ectopic thymoma, confirmed
by pathology from September 2013 to June 2019, were retrospectively analyzed.
Results
Eight cases of thymoma were diagnosed, which included three in mediastinum (one of
B1 type, two of C type), two in pericardium (both of B3 type), one in lung (B1 type),
one in pleura (AB type), and one in right atrium (B2 type). Among the eight cases,
four were men and four were women, aged 36–70 years. The clinical manifestations were
chest tightness, shortness of breath and cough, and one case of myasthenia gravis.
Six of the 8 patients were misdiagnosed as lymphoma, solitary fibrous tumor, malignant
teratoma by CT. CT showed the following: the long diameter of tumor was 4.2 cm–19.5 cm,
the shape was elliptical or round, and one case of ectopic thymoma grew in the atrium.
The density was homogeneous in two cases and heterogeneous in six cases. The boundary
was clear in three cases and unclear in five cases. Among the eight cases, three showed
pleural effusion, two showed pericardial effusion and three showed calcification.
Conclusions
Ectopic thymoma is rare and often misdiagnosed due to abnormal position. However,
CT findings of ectopic thymoma are similar to those of the anterior superior mediastinal
thymoma.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Clinical ImagingAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Thymus.in: Sternberg SS Histology for pathologists. 2 nd ed. Lippincott-Raven Publishers, Philadelphia, PA1997: 687-706
- Thymic tumors.Ann Thorac Surg. 2004; 77: 1860-1869
- Ectopic pleural thymoma mimicking a giant solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura[J].Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2012; 15: 930-932
- Lung tumors derived from ectopic tissues.[J].Semin Diagn Pathol. 1995; 12: 172
- The spectrum of ectopic thymomas[J].Virchows Arch. 2016; 469: 245-254
- Thymoma: benign appearance, malignant potential.Oncologist. 2006; 11: 887-894
- Thymoma and thymic carcinoma.Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2010; 37: 13-25
- A diagnostic approach to the mediastinal masses[J].Insights Imaging. 2013; 4: 29-52
- Epidemiology of thymoma and associated malignancies[J].J Thorac Oncol. 2010; 5: S260-S265
- Myasthenia gravis.[J].Practitioner. 2011; 2011: 2122-2128
- Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of mediastinal tumors[J].J Magn Reson Imaging. 2010; 32: 1325-1339
- Imaging of thymoma[J].Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2005; 17: 12-19
- Prevalence of ectopic thymic tissue in myasthenia gravis and its clinical significance[J].J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1995; 109: 632-635
- Ectopic cervical thymoma: a case report and review[J].Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2017; 50: 312
- Ectopic primary type A thymoma located in two thoracic vertebras: a case report[J].BMC Cancer. 2010; 10 (322-0)
- Thymoma arising within cardiac myxoma[J].Am J Surg Pathol. 2005; 29: 1208-1213
- Ectopic thymoma in the paratracheal region of the middle mediastinum: a rare case report and literature review[J].BMC Res Notes. 2018; 11: 256
- Massive thymoma of the mid-posterior mediastinum: an unprecedented case in a young adult[J].Radiologia Brasileira. 2016; 49: 403-405
- Thoracoscopic resection of middle mediastinal noninvasive thymoma: report of a case[J].Surg Today. 2007; 37: 787-789
- Pericardial ectopic thymoma presenting with cardiac tamponade: report of a case[J].Surg Today. 2015; 45: 1200-1204
- Pericardial ectopic thymoma[J].Virchows Arch. 2005; 446: 185-188
- Ectopic thymoma simulating a pericardial cyst[J].Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2005; 63
- Primary intrapulmonary thymoma: a systematic review[J].Eur J Surg Oncol. 2007; 33: 0-1141
- Primary intrapulmonary thymomas: case report and review of the literature.[J].J Int Med Res. 2009; 37: 1252-1257
- Ectopic thymoma presenting as a giant intrathoracic tumor: a case report[J].World J Surg Oncol. 2011; 9: 66
- Ectopic pleural thymoma in a 49-year-old woman: a case report[J].Pathol Res Pract. 2016; S0344033816301911
- Primary thymic epithelial tumours of the pleura mimicking malignant mesothelioma.[J].Histopathology. 2010; 41: 42-49
Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 06, 2019
Accepted:
October 31,
2019
Received in revised form:
October 30,
2019
Received:
August 26,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
