title: Recurrence of thymoma after 11 years presenting as diffuse pleural thickening.
abstract: A 50-year-old man presented with a 1-month history of dyspnea, weight loss, and pleuritic chest pain. He had environmental asbest exposure from birth to 12 years-old. Past medical history revealed maximal thymectomy operation and adjuvant radiotherapy with the diagnosis of minimally invasive lymphocytic thymoma 11 years ago. Thorax computerized tomography demonstrated a circumferential pleural thickening encasing the entire left lung and pleural effusion. VATS-pleural biopsy revealed the diagnosis invasive tymoma, Type B1, stage IVA. In conclusion, the diagnosis of invasive thymoma must be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of diffuse pleural lesions. The recurrence of thymomas may be as long as 10 years after complete resection.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of 2nd Chest Diseases, Atatürk Chest Diseases and Chest Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. deniz_koksal@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Köksal
authors.forename: Hülya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bayiz
authors.forename: Mahmut
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gülgösteren
authors.forename: Nihal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Başay
authors.forename: Neslihan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mutluay
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boyacı
authors.forename: Bahadır
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Berktaş
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Çakır
authors.forename: Mine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berkoğlu
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D013945:Thymoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology