title: Pemphigus with thymoma improved by thymectomy: report of a case.
abstract: A 53-year-old female with pemphigus vulgaris received treatment with prednisolone for 3 years. On chest computed tomography performed at follow-up, an anterior-mediastinal tumor (4 cm × 3 cm) was detected and diagnosed as a thymoma. Although amyosthenia was absent, the patient's anti-acetylcholine-receptor antibody level was high, and she was positive for anti-desmoglein 3 antibodies. She underwent extended thymectomy in the same year, following which both the anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody and the anti-desmoglein 3 antibody levels were normalized. The patient's skin symptoms improved, and the steroid dose was gradually lowered and finally discontinued 4 years postoperatively. Extended thymectomy may be an effective therapy for treating patients with pemphigus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic, Endocrine Surgery and Oncology, Institute of Health Bioscience, University of Tokushima Graduate School, kuramoto-cho 3-18-15, Tokushima, 770-8503, Japan. mitsuteru@clin.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Mitsuteru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: Syoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakiyama
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tangoku
mesh_terms: D015551:Autoimmunity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010257:Paraneoplastic Syndromes; D010392:Pemphigus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013934:Thymectomy; D013945:Thymoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome