Log in

Ectopic cervical thymoma with myasthenia gravis: a rare association

  • Case report
  • Published:
Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Thymic masses are one of the most common tumors in the anterior mediastinum. Nevertheless, because the thymus originates in the third and fourth pharyngeal pouches and descends into the anterior mediastinum, ectopic thymic tissue may be found anywhere from the angle of the mandible to the superior mediastinum. Ectopic cervical thymoma (ECT) is an extremely rare tumor that originates from ectopic thymic tissue trapped during the migration of the embryonic thymus and is often misdiagnosed as a thyroid tumor or other neck masses. Herein, we report an unusual case of ectopic cervical thymoma associated to myasthenia gravis (MG).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rosai J, Levine GD. Tumors of the thymus. In: Atlas of tumor pathology, 2nd series, fasc. 13. Washington, DC: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 1976:1–166 p. 151–3.

  2. Yamashita H, Murakami N, Noguchi S, et al. Cervical thymoma and incidence of cervical-thymus. Acta Pathol Jpn. 1983;33:189–94.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Yan B, Lim D, Petersson F. Ectopic cervical thymoma: A report of two cases of a rare entity frequently misdiagnosed on fine needle aspiration cytology and frozen section. Head Neck Pathol. 2010;4:152–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Wu TH, ** JH, Huang TW, Chang H, Lee SC. Ectopic cervical thymoma in a patient with myasthenia gravis. J Cardiothorac Surg. 2011;6:89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Park HO, Kim SH, Moon SH, Yang JH, Kang DH, Lee JH. Ectopic cervical thymoma: a case report and review. Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2017;50:312–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Taweevisit M, Sampatanukul P,Thorner PS. Ectopic thymoma can mimic benign and malignant thyroid lesions on fine needle aspiration cytology: a case report and literature review. Acta Cytol. 2013;57:213–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Sato S, Shirato T, Togashi K. A case of ectopic cervical thymoma with myasthenia gravis. J Japan Assoc Chest Surg. 2010;24:91-95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Chan JK, Rosai J. Tumors of the neck showing thymic or related branchial pouch differentiation: a unifying concept. Hum Pathol. 1991;22:349–67.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Oh YL, Ko YH, Ree HJ. Aspiration cytology of ectopic cervical thymoma mimicking a thyroid mass. A case report. Acta Cytol. 1998;42:1167–71.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Jaiswal AA, Garg AK, Ravindranath M, Mohanty MK. Multiloculated cervical thymic cyst’ – Case report with review of literature. Egypt J Ear Nose Throat Allied Sci. 2014;15:129–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Nagato T, Hayashi T, Kishible K, Harabuchi Y. A case of thymoma in the neck: cervical thymoma. Pract Otol. 2005;98:577–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Nasseri F, Eftekhari F. Clinical and radiologic review of the normal and abnormal thymus: pearls and pitfalls. Radiographics. 2010;30:413–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Hsu IL, Wu MH, Lai WW, et al. Cervical ectopic thymoma. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2007;133:1658–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lee YY, Wang WC, Li CF. Aspiration cytology of an ectopic cervical thymoma misinterpreted as a lymphoproliferative lesion of the thyroid: A case report. Oncol Lett. 2015;10:1255–1258.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Tsukada J, Hasegawa I, Sato H, Kakefuda T, Sugiura H, Narimatsu Y. Ectopic cervical thymoma located in the carotid triangle. Jpn J Radiol. 2013;31:138–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Seggia JC, Abreu P, Takatani M. Plasmapheresis as preparatory method for thymectomy in myasthenia gravis. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 1995;53:411–415.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Klimek-Piotrowska W, Mizia E, Kuzdzał J, Lazar A, Lis M, Pankowski J. Ectopic thymic tissue in the mediastinum: limitations for the operative treatment of myasthenia gravis. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2012;42:61–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Yokoyama S, Hayashida R, Yoshiyama K, et al. Ectopic cervical thymoma excised through a transcervical approach combined with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: a case report. Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015;21:293–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Masaoka A, Yamakawa Y, Niwa H, et al. Extended thymectomy for myasthenia gravis patients: a 20-year review. Ann Thorac Surg. 1996;62:853–859.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Singhal S, Shrager JB, Rosenthal DI, LiVolsi VA, Kaiser LR. Comparison of stages I–II thymoma treated by complete resection with or without adjuvant radiation. Ann Thorac Surg. 2003;76:1635–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Liu Z, Feng H, Yeung SC, et al. Extended transsternal thymectomy for the treatment of ocular myasthenia gravis. Ann Thorac Surg.2011;92:1993–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. .Koezuka S, Sato F, Hata Y, Otsuka H, Yuasa R, Kiribayashi T. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for ectopic middle mediastinal thymoma in a patient with myasthenia gravis. Ann Thorac Surg. 2013;95:e67–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study did not receive any funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachid Marouf.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Statement of human and animal rights

All procedures performed in this case report involving human participants and animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (The oncology committee and the multidisciplinary consultation meeting of the University Hospital center Mohammed VI, Oujda, Morocco ) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Consent

This is a case report with no identifying information in the images.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Marouf, R., Alloubi, I. & Housni, B. Ectopic cervical thymoma with myasthenia gravis: a rare association. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 36, 154–158 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-019-00879-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-019-00879-y

Keywords

Navigation