Abstract
Background Thymoma is the most common tumor of the anterior mediastinum. However, the correlation
between thymoma stage and pulmonary function was not assessed. Our objective in this
study was to describe the pulmonary function in thymoma subjects stratified with different
staging systems.
Methods A total of 143 subjects with a diagnosis of thymoma who underwent extended thymectomy
for thymoma between January 2001 and December 2019 were reviewed retrospectively.
All the subjects experienced pulmonary function tests (PFTs) using Master Screen PFT
system and total respiratory resistance measurement.
Results We evaluated 143 subjects with a diagnosis of thymoma; the significant differences
were observed in mean values of vital capacity, inspiratory volume (IC), total lung
capacity (TLC), ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity (RV/TLC), forced vital
capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, ratio of forced expiratory volume
in 1 second to forced vital capacity, peak expiratory flow, peak inspiratory flow,
maximum ventilation volume, total airway resistance, and diffusing capacity for carbon
monoxide (DLCO) across upper airway obstruction classification. PFTs of subjects with
varying Masaoka stages are different. RV and RV/TLC of subjects in stages III and
IV were higher than those of normal level, while DLCO of subjects in stage IV was
lower than the normal level, and the mean level of IC showed significant difference
between stage II and stage III.
Discussion The pulmonary function patterns of thymoma subjects significantly correlate with
tumor location and size rather than clinical Masaoka stage.
Keywords
surgery - thymoma - pulmonary function tests - upper airway obstruction (UAO) - cohort
study
