Should asymptomatic enlarged thymus glands be resected?
OBJECTIVE
Patients frequently have an "enlarged thymus" incidentally identified on imaging. We sought to determine whether thymectomy is appropriate in patients with diffusely enlarged thymus glands.


METHODS
A retrospective review was conducted of patients undergoing thymectomy without myasthenia gravis at 1 institution over 15 years.


RESULTS
Of 117 patients undergoing thymectomy, 109 patients had complete data. Thirty-six had a gland judged by the surgeon to be diffusely enlarged, and 73 had a discrete mass. Of the 36 diffusely enlarged thymus glands, 18 (50%) occurred in patients with no symptoms referable to the thymus. No patient (0/18; 0%) with an asymptomatic diffusely enlarged thymus gland had a pathologic diagnosis that would have required resection (8 normal; 10 "hyperplasia"). Of the 18 symptomatic patients with diffusely enlarged glands, 4 (22.2%) harbored lymphoma, but none harbored thymoma or other tumor (P < .05; symptomatic vs asymptomatic). Of the 73 patients with discrete masses, 45 (61.6%) were symptomatic, and both the symptomatic and asymptomatic patients had a high rate of pathologic diagnoses that represented an indication for resection (53.3% and 42.8%, respectively, harbored thymoma or other tumor). Of the 25 (of 109) patients initially having a diagnosis of thymic hyperplasia, only 3 (12%) had true follicular hyperplasia on re-review of the pathologic condition. Interestingly, an autoimmune disorder developed in 2 (67%) of these 3 patients on long-term follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Asymptomatic patients with diffusely enlarged thymus glands can be followed up expectantly because they have a negligible incidence of significant thymic disease; symptomatic patients with diffusely enlarged thymus glands may have lymphoma, so biopsy is appropriate. Half of patients with a discrete mass have tumors requiring resection; imaging advances would be useful to better differentiate among patients within this group.
Singla
Smit
S
Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. smitsingla@hotmail.com
Litzky
Leslie A
LA
Kaiser
Larry R
LR
Shrager
Joseph B
JB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008476:Mediastinal Cyst / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D015143:Philadelphia; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013934:Thymectomy; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult