title: Totally cervical thymoma from the orthotopic thymus.
abstract: Totally cervical thymoma is extremely rare and usually arises from ectopic thymic tissue. We report a case of a B1 thymoma localized in the neck, misdiagnosed for a decade as a thyroid nodule. Fine needle aspiration biopsy led to a preoperative suspicion of the correct diagnosis. The tumor was resected intact through a cervical collar incision, along with the upper thymic horn from which it originated. A pathogenetic hypothesis was formulated.
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Surgery Unit, University of Perugia Medical School, Ospedale S. Maria della Misericordia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vannucci
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tassi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monacelli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Puma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013934:Thymectomy; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed