title: Role of imaging in the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of thymoma.
abstract: Thymoma is a rare mediastinal neoplasm but is the most common primary neoplasm of the anterior mediastinum. There have been only a few published reports assessing this disease. Furthermore, many of these reports are from a single institution and span several decades, which may lead to potentially misleading conclusions related to diagnosis, staging, and treatment. Computed tomography is the imaging modality of choice for evaluating thymoma and can help distinguish thymoma from other anterior mediastinal abnormalities. Tumor stage and extent of resection are the most important prognostic factors. Tumors that are encapsulated and are amenable to complete resection have a good prognosis, whereas invasive and unresectable tumors have a poor prognosis regardless of their histologic characteristics. Radiologists must be aware of the full spectrum of imaging findings of thymoma, the standard guidelines for diagnostic evaluation, and how imaging findings affect therapeutic decisions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Diagnostic Imaging, Department of Pathology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit 1478, Houston, TX 77030, USA. mfbenveniste@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Marcelo F K
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Benveniste
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rosado-de-Christenson
authors.forename: Bradley S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Sabloff
authors.forename: Cesar A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Swisher
authors.forename: Edith M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Marom
mesh_terms: D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*