Abstract
Here we report on a 55-year-old man with an abnormal anterior mediastinal shadow and multiple nodules in the thymus, which increased in size over a period of 15 months. He was diagnosed with early prostatic cancer, and treated with chemotherapy. Although no definite preoperative diagnosis was obtained, surgery was performed because of the possibility of malignant neoplasm or metastasis. Extended thymectomy was performed and pathological examination revealed that the nodules were remnant thymic tissue and not malignant lesions. Although the cause of this unusual remnant thymic tissue remains unclear, it may have been related to autoimmune or endocrinological disease.
Key words
Thymus - remnant - involution
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MD, Ph.D. Shoh Tatebe
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Niigata University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry
757 Asahimachi-Dori 1
Niigata City 951-8510
Japan
Phone: + 81252272243
Fax: + 81 2 52 27 07 80
Email: statebe@yahoo.com
