• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.548-551
• /
• 1987

Thoracoscopy, mediastinoscopy and/or mediastinotomy and explo-thoracotomy were performed and confirmed diagnosis of the 26 cases of the mediastinal tumors, those were admitted and treated at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular surgery, Chonbuk National University Hospital, from June,1976 to September, 1986. We experienced 7 thoracoscopies, 7 mediastinoscopies &/or mediastinotomies, and 12 explo-thoracotomies. The most common histologic type was teratoma and lymphoma [6 cases]. Of the 26 cases of the histologically confirmed mediastinal tumor, 19 were benign tumors and 7 were malignants. 19 cases of benign tumors were surgically resected with good result but one case of the surgically resected malignant thymoma was recurred 4 months later. 6 cases of malignant lymphoma and one case of recurred malignant thymoma were treated with chemo-and radiation therapy. Thoracoscopy and mediastinoscopy with tissue biopsy were simple in procedure and had a tissue diagnosis with obtaining the pathologic tissue in a acceptable complication rate and reduced exploratory thoracotomy.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.92-96
• /
• 1996

Extrathoracic metastases of thymomas are extremely rare, occurring in less than 2% of cases. We present a case of metastatic thymoma in the liver diagnosed by aspiration biopsy. A fine-needle aspirate from a hepatic mass of a 65-year old man who had a history of malignant thymoma locally invading pericardium was examined. Nests of epithelial cells with few scattered lymphocytes were present. The nuclei of the epithelial cells were round to oval and appeared relatively uniform and regular, with fine chromatin pattern. They had one or two, small but lather conspicuous nucleoli. Unlike previous reports on the findings of the aspiration cytology of thymomas, the characteristic biphasic pattern was not present in this case.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.48-52
• /
• 2008

Ectopic Hamartomatous thymoma(EHT) is a rare benign tumor that occurs mainly in the supraclavicular or suprasternal area. Since this entity was first reported by Smith et al. in 1982, less than 50 cases have been reported in the literature. Recognition of EHT is important and needs to be differentiated from high-grade sarcomas such as synovial sarcoma or malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor because EHT follows a benign clinical course. We experienced a case of ectopic hamartomatous thymoma in the suprasternal area in a 53-year-old man. Here, we present the case with a review of the related literatures.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.454-461
• /
• 1988

Myasthenia gravis is a functional neuromuscular disorder with characteristic voluntary muscle weakness. The role of thymus in pathogenesis of this disorder has become apparent that thymectomy in treatment has gained acceptance. Between January 1976 and June 1987, twenty patients underwent thymectomy for myasthenia gravis at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, College of Medicine, Korea University. A clinical study that is focused on the factors affecting the operative results was analyzed and the following results were obtained. Among the 20 patients, male to female ratio was 8:12 and the age of onset was ranged from 3 years to 67 years. The chief complaints in order of frequency were as follows; ocular symptoms such as ptosis and diplopia[7 cases], general weakness[4 cases], swallowing difficulty[3 cases], dyspnea[3 cases], dysphasia[1 case], headache[1 case] and dizziness[1 case]. The severity of disease was classified by modified Osserman`s method that Group IIa was 8 cases, Group IIb; 7 cases, Group IIc; 3 cases and Group I; 2 cases. In histopathology of thymus, the most frequent finding was hyperplasia[11 cases] followed by thymoma[4 cases], normal tissue[3 cases] and malignant` thymoma[2 cases]. There were two cases of postoperative complications; one case was wound infection and the other was mediastinitis. One case of malignant thymoma died due to respiratory failure with pulmonary metastasis. There was 16 cases[80%] of improvement after thymectomy as follows; complete remission was 4 cases[20%], marked improvement was 9 cases[45%] and subjective improvement only was 3 cases[15%]. The effect of severity and duration of disease on operative result has statistically significant. The effect of thymus histopathology on operative result was not statistically significant. But there were comparable results between thymoma cases and non-thymoma cases.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.75-79
• /
• 2003

Ectopic cervical thymic tumor, first described in 1941 by Boman, is a rare tumor of the neck displaying the same histologic features as mediastinal thymoma. It was classified into benign thymoma, invasive (or malignant) thymoma, thymic carcinoma histopathologically and clinically. The ectopic cervical thymic tumor is misdianosed as the thyroidal mass on radiologic examination and FNA cytology due to its rarity and unusual location. Recently, we have experienced two cases of ectopic cervical thymic tumor misdiagnosed as thyroid mass ; a case of thymic carcinoma;the other of invasive thymoma. So, we report these cases with review of the literature.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.355-358
• /
• 1977

The period from .1959 to 1976, authors experienced 13 cases of thymoma at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in National Medical Center. Ten patients were male, and 3 patients were female.Main complaints were cough 76.9%, dyspnea, 69.2%, chest pain 61.6%, myasthenia gravis 23.1 % and S.V.S 23.1%. All of them located anterior mediastinum. 7 cases were benign and 6 cases were malignant. Lymphocytic type was 5 cases, epithelial type 3 case,spindle cell type 1 case, mixed type 2 cases, cystic type 1 case and seminomatous type 1 case. All cases were surgically approached but in malignant cases, only 1 case was palliatively removed and followed radiation therapy. 4 cases were made only biopsy, among them, obstained good response with radiation therapy in seminomatous type case. In benign cases, excellent result was obtained but 2 cases which were combined myasthenia gravis were relapsed the symptoms.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.75 no.5
• /
• pp.210-213
• /
• 2013

Superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is usually caused by extrinsic compression or invasion of the superior vena cava (SVC) by malignant tumors involving mediastinal structures. Although thymomas are well-known causes of SVCS, cases of SVCS caused by malignant thymomas protruding into adjacent vessels draining the SVC with thrombosis have been very rarely reported worldwide. We experienced a 39-year-old female patient with SVCS that developed after the direct invasion of the left brachiocephalic vein (LBCV) and SVC by an anterior mediastinal mass with a high maximum standardized uptake value on the chest computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography-CT. Based on these results, she underwent en bloc resection of the tumor, including removal of the involved vessels, and was eventually diagnosed as having a type B2 thymoma permeating into the LBCV and SVC. We present this case as a very rare form of SVCS caused by an invasive thymoma.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.37-40
• /
• 2010

Ectopic hamartomatous thymoma is a rare benign tumor of the lower neck occurring in the male adult predominantly. The origin of this tumor has been debated, but it is now believed to arise from remnants of the cervical sinus of His from early development. They are composed of epithelial, adipocytic, and spindle cells in variable amounts. Recognition of ectopic harmatomatous thymoma is important and needs to be differentiated from high-grade sarcomas such as synovial sarcoma or glandular malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. We here report on a case of ectopic hamartomatous thymoma arising in the left lateral neck of 33-year-old male patient.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.718-722
• /
• 1999

Thymoma is the most common tumor in the compartment of anterior mediastinum. The malignant thymoma is classified into invasive thymoma(category I) and thymic carcinoma(category II). Recently, well-differentiated thymic carcinoma is a proposed category 1.5 used to describe a subset of thymic epithelial tumors, allowing for the existence of intermediate form based on the clinical features and the histological characteristics. Thymic cyst is a congenital or a acquired disorder. Congenital thymic cyst may develop due to failure of the thymopharyngeal duct to obliterate and acquired thymic cyst develops from inflammation(multilocular thymic cyst), or neoplasm(cystic thymoma). Cystic degeneration in thymoma is a relatively frequent but focal event. In rare cases, the process proceeds to the extent that most or all of the lesion becomes cystic. Until now, well-differentiated thymic carcinoma with extensive cystic degeneration has not been reported in our country. We experienced a case of 14 year-old female patient showing extensive cystic degeneration in well-differentiated thymic carcinoma. And so we report it with review of the articles related.

• The Journal of the Korean life insurance medical association
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2013

In case of neoplasm claims, it is important to make a decision of differentiating malignant and benign. In Korean insurance market, there are many insurance products that cover cancer. In the insurance claims adjustment, differentiation between malignant and benign is according to histologic findings. However there are many neoplasms of bad clinical course in spite of benign histopathologic classification. In this article; astrocytoma, thymoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, colonic intramucosal carcinoma, gastric high grade adenoma/dysplasia, carcinoid tumor, MALT lymphoma, revision of Korean Classification of Disease-6th edition, and bladder tumors are reviewed in terms of differentiation between malignant and benign in the insurance claims. It may be helpful for claims staff to review important neoplasms in terms of differentiation between malignant and benign.