Abstract
Thymic lesions comprise approximately 2–3% of all pediatric mediastinal tumors and include thymic cysts, hyperplasia, carcinoma, and thymomas. Thymomas, which represent less than 1% of all mediastinal tumors, are rare mediastinal tumors in the pediatric population. Fewer than 30 cases in children have been described in the literature. These tumors are typically aggressive, with poor outcomes. We report a thymoma in a 14-year-old girl and review the available literature on thymomas and their treatment.
References
Philippart AI, Farmer DL (1998) Benign mediastinal cysts and tumors. In: O’Neill JA, Rowe MI, Grosfeld JL et al (eds) Pediatric surgery. Mosby, St. Louis, p 842
King RM, Telander RL, Smithson WA et al (1982) Primary mediastinal tumors in children. J Pediatr Surg 5:512–520
Cohen AJ, Thompson L, Edwards FH et al (1991) Primary cysts and tumors of the mediastinum. Ann Thorac Surg 51:378–384
Grosfeld JL (1994) Primary tumors of the chest wall and mediastinum in children. Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 6:235–239
Thomas CR, Wright CD, Loeherer PJ (1999) Thymoma: state of the art. J Clin Oncol 17:2280–2289
Santana L, Givica A, Camacho C (2002) Best cases from the AFIP: thymoma. Radiographics 22:S95–S102
Spigland N, Di Lorenzo M, Yousseff S et al (1990) Malignant thymoma in children: a 20-year review. J Pediatr Surg 25:1143–1146
Bertelse S, Malmstrom J, Heerfordt J et al (1975) Tumors of the thymic region—symptomatology, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Thorax 30:19–25
Vilpo JA, Klemi P, Lassila O et al (1981) Malignant thymus tumor progressing into acute leukemia with non-specific esterase activity. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand 89:223–226
Masaoka A, Monden Y, Nakahara K et al (1981) Following study of thymoma with special reference to their clinical stages. Cancer 48:2485–2492
Bergh NP, Gatzinsky P, Larsson S, Lundin P, Ridell B (1978) Tumors of the thymus and thymic region: I. Clinicopathological studies on thymomas. Ann Thorac Surg 25:91–98
Wilkins DB, Sheikh EM, Green R et al (1999) Clinical and pathologic predictors of survival in patients with thymoma. Ann Surg 230:562–574
Lardinois D, Rechsteiner R, Läng RH et al (2001) Prognostic relevance of Masaoka and Müller-Hermelink classification in patients with thymic tumors. Ann Thorac Surg 69:1550–1555
Moore KH, McKenzie PR, Kennedy CW et al (2001) Thymoma: trends over time. Ann Thorac Surg 72:203–207
Okumura M, Ohta M, Tateyama H et al (2002) The World Health Organization histologic classification system reflects the oncologic behavior of thymoma: a clinical study of 273 patients. ACS 94:624–632
Ogawa K, Uno T, Toita T et al (2002) Postoperative radiotherapy for patients with completely resected thymoma: a multi-institutional, retrospective review of 103 patients. ACS 94:1405–1413
Haniuda M, Miyazawa M, Yoshida et al (1996) Is postoperative radiotherapy for thymoma effective? Ann Surg 224:219–224
Park HS, Shin DM, Lee JS et al (1994) Thymoma. A retrospective study of 87 cases. Cancer 73:2491–2498
Fornasiero A, Daniele O, Ghiotto C et al (1991) Chemotherapy for invasive thymoma. A 13-year experience. Cancer 68:30–33
Kaplinsky C, Mor C, Cohen IJ et al (1992) Childhood malignant thymoma: clinical, therapeutic, and immunohistochemical considerations. Paediatr Hematol Oncol 9:261–268
Lam WW, Chan FL, Lau YL et al (1993) Paediatric thymoma; unusual occurrence in two siblings. Pediatr Radiol 23:124–126
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Robert C. Shamberger for his careful review of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rothstein, D.H., Voss, S.D., Isakoff, M. et al. Thymoma in a child: case report and review of the literature. Ped Surgery Int 21, 548–551 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-005-1419-4
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-005-1419-4