Totally cervical thymoma from the orthotopic thymus

Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2012 Mar;60(2):175-6. doi: 10.1055/s-0031-1280067. Epub 2011 Jul 15.

Abstract

Totally cervical thymoma is extremely rare and usually arises from ectopic thymic tissue. We report a case of a B1 thymoma localized in the neck, misdiagnosed for a decade as a thyroid nodule. Fine needle aspiration biopsy led to a preoperative suspicion of the correct diagnosis. The tumor was resected intact through a cervical collar incision, along with the upper thymic horn from which it originated. A pathogenetic hypothesis was formulated.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biopsy, Fine-Needle
  • Diagnostic Errors*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / diagnosis*
  • Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / pathology
  • Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / surgery
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Thymectomy
  • Thymus Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Thymus Neoplasms / pathology
  • Thymus Neoplasms / surgery
  • Thyroid Nodule / diagnosis*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Supplementary concepts

  • Thymic epithelial tumor