Excision after chemoradiotherapy of invasive thymoma extending into the right atrium: report of a case.
We report a case of invasive thymoma with intracardiac extension, resulting from the progression of intracaval growth, in a 56-year-old woman. Initially, the patient received two courses of chemotherapy, but the tumor showed only a modest response; however, subsequent radiotherapy reduced the tumor size further and the intracardiac lesion disappeared, making it possible to excise the tumor without cardiopulmonary bypass. Thus, when a thymoma does not respond well, we recommend radiotherapy as another treatment option, because its effects may allow for less invasive and more complete tumor excision.
Ichimura
Hideo
H
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, 1-3-1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8558, Japan.
Usui
Shingo
S
Okazaki
Hiroo
H
Konishi
Taisuke
T
Osaka
Motoo
M
Jikuya
Tomoaki
T
Nakayama
Hidetsugu
H
Kikuchi
Kazunori
K
Inadome
Yukinori
Y
Onizuka
Masataka
M
D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*