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Frontiers in Medicine 2024Malacoplakia is a rare chronic granulomatous disease that mostly affects the gastrointestinal tract and urinary tract of immunocompromised patients; malacoplakia rarely...
Malacoplakia is a rare chronic granulomatous disease that mostly affects the gastrointestinal tract and urinary tract of immunocompromised patients; malacoplakia rarely effects the female reproductive tract. Here, we report a 56-year-old patient who underwent thymectomy for thymoma and myasthenia gravis prior to developing cervical and vaginal malacoplakia. The patient presented with recurrent vaginal bleeding. We discovered that there were alterations in the cervical cauliflower pattern during colposcopy, which is suggestive of cervical cancer. Pathological examination of the lesion tissue showed that a large number of macrophages aggregated, and M-G bodies with concentric circles and refractive properties were observed between cells. Immunostaining for CD68 and CD163 was positive, and special staining for D-PAS and PAS was positive. The discovery of in bacterial culture can aid in the diagnosis of malacoplakia. Following surgery, we performed vaginal lavage with antibiotics in addition to resection of local cervical and vaginal lesions. This study provides a fresh perspective on the management of genital malacoplakia.
PubMed: 38895183
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1409239 -
Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China) 2024Thymectomy with median sternotomy is the gold standard for thymoma and myasthenia gravis, although minimally invasive procedures such as robot-assisted surgery have... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Thymectomy with median sternotomy is the gold standard for thymoma and myasthenia gravis, although minimally invasive procedures such as robot-assisted surgery have recently become more common. However, the superiority of these approaches has not been established, and they are infrequently recommended for localized lesions. The International Thymic Malignancies Interest Group warned that despite the perceived reduction in length of hospital stay and pain, the benefits of these approaches compared to the open approach have not been fully substantiated and that prospective collaborative data collection is critical in defining the value of these techniques. Whether thymectomy is necessary for stage I thymomas in the absence of myasthenia gravis or anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies is also unclear. This study reviews and discusses the literature on this subject.
METHODS
A narrative review was conducted using PubMed and Scopus databases. Original research articles comparing robotic to video-assisted thoracic surgery or to open thymectomy for thymomas were included. A comparison of partial resection and total thymectomy (thymothymectomy) for thymomas was also conducted.
KEY CONTENT AND FINDINGS
Perioperative outcomes such as blood loss, operative duration, complications, and length of hospital stay were better for robot-assisted resection of early-stage thymomas than for open thymoma surgery. It would be premature to consider partial resection as an appropriate treatment option for thymomas.
CONCLUSIONS
Robotic thymothymectomy is safe with effective and promising long-term results and oncological and surgical outcomes in patients with thymoma. Robotic thymectomy can become the standard procedure in patients with early-stage thymomas.
PubMed: 38881811
DOI: 10.21037/med-23-37 -
Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China) 2024Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are scarce neoplasms of the prevascular mediastinum. Included in this diverse category of lesions are thymomas and thymic carcinomas... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are scarce neoplasms of the prevascular mediastinum. Included in this diverse category of lesions are thymomas and thymic carcinomas (TCs). Surgery is the mainstay of treatment of tumors that are deemed resectable. However, up till now, optimal surgical access has been a subject of debate. The advent of new techniques, such as video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS), challenged the median sternotomy which was traditionally considered the access of choice. This review aims to demonstrate the current evidence concerning the surgical treatment of TET and to enlighten other controversial issues about surgery.
METHODS
PubMed research was conducted using the terms [surgery] AND [thymic epithelial tumors] OR [thymomas] and [surgical treatment] AND [thymic epithelial tumors] OR [thymomas]. Papers concerning pediatric cases and non-English literature papers were excluded. Individual case reports were also excluded.
KEY CONTENT AND FINDINGS
Minimally invasive surgical techniques (MIST) such as VATS and RATS are increasingly applied in early-stage TET. Although numerous published studies have demonstrated better perioperative outcomes in early-stage TET, long-term follow-up data are still required to demonstrate the oncological equivalent of MIST to open surgery. Resection of stage III TET is more challenging. Thymectomy can be expanded en bloc to include the major vascular structures, lung, pleura, phrenic, or vagus nerve in these individuals. There is no agreement on the ideal surgical access and traditionally these patients underwent open sternotomy, sometimes combined with a thoracic access. Evidence concerning the treatment of stage IVA disease is mainly derived from retrospective case series which are highly heterogeneous in terms of the number of enrolled patients, histology, degree of pleural involvement, and timing of presentation.
CONCLUSIONS
New techniques in the field of minimally invasive surgery are gaining acceptance for early-stage TET but longer follow-up periods are warranted to prove their oncological outcomes. On the contrary, these techniques should be used cautiously in case of locally advanced tumors. Surgeons must not forget that the main objective is the complete resection of the lesion, which is one major predictive factor for increased survival.
PubMed: 38881810
DOI: 10.21037/med-23-44 -
The valuable role of extended pleurectomy decortication and HITHOC for disseminated pleural thymoma.Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China) 2024
PubMed: 38881807
DOI: 10.21037/med-24-7 -
BMC Pulmonary Medicine Jun 2024The diagnostic complexities that arise in radiographic distinction between ectopic pleural thymoma and other thoracic neoplasms are substantial, with instances of...
BACKGROUND
The diagnostic complexities that arise in radiographic distinction between ectopic pleural thymoma and other thoracic neoplasms are substantial, with instances of co-occurring T-cell lymphocytosis and osseous metastasis being exceedingly rare.
CASE PRESENTATION
A 51-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with dyspnea and chest pain. Upon imaging examination, she was found to have diffuse and nodular pleural thickening on the left side, collapse of the left lung and a compression in the second thoracic vertebrae. All lesions showed significant F-FDG uptake on F-FDG PET/CT examination. Furthermore, she exhibited T-cell lymphocytosis in her peripheral blood, lymph nodes, and bone marrow. After ruling out malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), lung cancer with pleural metastasis, and T-cell lymphoma, the definitive diagnosis asserted was ectopic pleural thymoma with T-cell lymphocytosis and bone metastasis.
CONCLUSION
Physicians need to expand their knowledge of the imaging features of ectopic pleural thymoma. Cases with T-cell lymphocytosis may exhibit increased aggressiveness and prone to bone metastasis.
Topics: Humans; Female; Middle Aged; Thymoma; Lymphocytosis; Pleural Neoplasms; Bone Neoplasms; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography; Thymus Neoplasms; T-Lymphocytes; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Diagnosis, Differential; Pleura
PubMed: 38877486
DOI: 10.1186/s12890-024-03090-x -
Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery Jun 2024Thymoma is a rare malignancy with usual location in the antero-superior mediastinum. Ectopic cervical thymoma (ECT) is an extremely rare tumor that originates from...
Thymoma is a rare malignancy with usual location in the antero-superior mediastinum. Ectopic cervical thymoma (ECT) is an extremely rare tumor that originates from ectopic tissue, and is caused by the aberrant migration of the embryonic thymus. Our patient was a 56-year-old man who had a nodular lesion in the neck for several years. Computed tomography and Enhanced magnetic resonance imaging were performed. He underwent surgery, and a histological examination resulted in a diagnosis of type AB thymoma.
Topics: Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Thymoma; Thymus Neoplasms; Choristoma; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neck; Head and Neck Neoplasms
PubMed: 38835049
DOI: 10.1186/s13019-024-02808-6 -
Neurology India Mar 2024
Topics: Humans; Thymoma; Thymus Neoplasms; Receptors, GABA-A; Encephalitis; Male; Female; Middle Aged; Adult
PubMed: 38817179
DOI: 10.4103/neurol-india.Neurol-India-D-24-00072 -
BMC Cancer May 2024This study aims to develop an innovative, deep model for thymoma risk stratification using preoperative CT images. Current algorithms predominantly focus on radiomic...
OBJECTIVES
This study aims to develop an innovative, deep model for thymoma risk stratification using preoperative CT images. Current algorithms predominantly focus on radiomic features or 2D deep features and require manual tumor segmentation by radiologists, limiting their practical applicability.
METHODS
The deep model was trained and tested on a dataset comprising CT images from 147 patients (82 female; mean age, 54 years ± 10) who underwent surgical resection and received subsequent pathological confirmation. The eligible participants were divided into a training cohort (117 patients) and a testing cohort (30 patients) based on the CT scan time. The model consists of two stages: 3D tumor segmentation and risk stratification. The radiomic model and deep model (2D) were constructed for comparative analysis. Model performance was evaluated through dice coefficient, area under the curve (AUC), and accuracy.
RESULTS
In both the training and testing cohorts, the deep model demonstrated better performance in differentiating thymoma risk, boasting AUCs of 0.998 and 0.893 respectively. This was compared to the radiomic model (AUCs of 0.773 and 0.769) and deep model (2D) (AUCs of 0.981 and 0.760). Notably, the deep model was capable of simultaneously identifying lesions, segmenting the region of interest (ROI), and differentiating the risk of thymoma on arterial phase CT images. Its diagnostic prowess outperformed that of the baseline model.
CONCLUSIONS
The deep model has the potential to serve as an innovative decision-making tool, assisting on clinical prognosis evaluation and the discernment of suitable treatments for different thymoma pathological subtypes.
KEY POINTS
• This study incorporated both tumor segmentation and risk stratification. • The deep model, using clinical and 3D deep features, effectively predicted thymoma risk. • The deep model improved AUCs by 16.1pt and 17.5pt compared to radiomic model and deep model (2D) respectively.
Topics: Humans; Female; Thymoma; Middle Aged; Male; Deep Learning; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Risk Assessment; Thymus Neoplasms; Adult; Aged; Retrospective Studies
PubMed: 38807039
DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12394-4 -
Interdisciplinary Cardiovascular and... May 2024Thymomas are a variant of thymic epithelial tumors. They are considered malignant due to their tendency to local invasion and they showed lower metastatic behaviour....
Thymomas are a variant of thymic epithelial tumors. They are considered malignant due to their tendency to local invasion and they showed lower metastatic behaviour. Distal metastasis are rare and an endobronchial mass is a rare presentation. First-line treatment for early-stage thymomas is surgery; for Masaoka-Koga stage III, neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemoradiation therapy should be considered in association whit surgery after Multidisciplinary Tumour Board (MDT) evaluation. We report a rare case of radical resection with type A extended-sleeve lobectomy in a 63-year-old woman who was affected by endobronchial recurrence of B3 thymoma, 31 months after complete and radical thymectomy.
PubMed: 38806180
DOI: 10.1093/icvts/ivae105 -
BMC Neurology May 2024Ectopic cervical thymoma (ECT) is an extremely rare tumor, especially in association with myasthenia gravis (MG).
BACKGROUND
Ectopic cervical thymoma (ECT) is an extremely rare tumor, especially in association with myasthenia gravis (MG).
CASE PRESENTATION
We report a case of myasthenia gravis with an ectopic thymoma in the neck, whose myasthenic symptoms significantly improved after complete removal of the mass. A 55-year-old woman with generalized myasthenia gravis (MG) experienced worsening neuromuscular weakness after abruptly discontinuing pyridostigmine. Testing revealed acetylcholine receptor-antibody (AChR-Ab) positivity and a cervical mass initially thought to be thyroid or parathyroid was identified as a thymoma, type A. Post-surgery and radiation therapy, her myasthenic symptoms improved significantly with less prednisone and pyridostigmine requirements over time and no need for additional immunotherapies.
CONCLUSIONS
Diagnosing ECTs is challenging due to rarity, atypical locations, and inconclusive fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) results, often misinterpreted as thyroid or parathyroid lesions. As proper management of patients with MG, including thymectomy, offers favorable clinical outcomes such as significant improvement in myasthenic complaints and reduced immunosuppressive medication requirements, clinicians should be vigilant of the ectopic locations of thymomas to ensure timely diagnosis and intervention.
Topics: Humans; Female; Myasthenia Gravis; Middle Aged; Thymoma; Thymus Neoplasms; Choristoma
PubMed: 38783232
DOI: 10.1186/s12883-024-03656-6