Primary mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus presenting with myasthenia gravis

Wen Ling Woo; Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos; Lasha Gvinianidze; Ian Proctor; David Lawrence

doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2014.09.19

Primary mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thymus presenting with myasthenia gravis

J Thorac Dis. 2014 Oct;6(10):E223-5. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2014.09.19.

Authors

Wen Ling Woo¹, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos¹, Lasha Gvinianidze¹, Ian Proctor¹, David Lawrence¹

Affiliation

¹ 1 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Heart Hospital, University College London Hospitals (UCLH), London, UK ; 2 Department of Histopathology, University College London Hospitals (UCLH), London, UK.

PMID: 25364536
PMCID: PMC4215142
DOI: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2014.09.19

Abstract

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) of the thymus is a rare malignant neoplasm of the anterior mediastinum. There are less than 30 cases described in the English literature. We report a case of a 47-year-old lady who presented with myasthenia gravis and was found to have a well-circumscribed anterior mediastinal mass in her medical work-up. This mass was surgically resected and subsequently found to be a primary MEC of the thymus. This is the first reported case of thymic MEC with concurrent myasthenia gravis. Her myasthenia symptoms have persisted following complete surgical resection of her tumour.

Keywords: Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC); myasthenia gravis; thymus.

Publication types

Case Reports