Work

Robotic resection of a giant thymolipoma in a pediatric patient

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Thymolipomas are benign lesions in the anterior mediastinum that most commonly present in the first three decades of life. They often are asymptomatic and can be very large at time of diagnosis. After incidental detection of a thoracic mass on an abdominal ultrasound, an otherwise well 10 years old male was evaluated with further imaging, including a cardiac-gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. This demonstrated that the mass was intimate with but did not appear to invade the pericardium, likely originating from the thymus. Despite the large size, the patient underwent robotic resection of the mass and we include photographs illustrating the minimally invasive approach and highlighting critical structures. The patient tolerated the procedure well and recovered quickly. Final pathology was consistent with a giant thymolipoma. In summary, workup of giant thymolipomas is optimized with cardiac gated imaging. Despite their large size, these can be safely managed in a minimally invasive fashion in pediatric patients.

Source: Journal of Surgical Case Reports

DOI: 10.1093/jscr/rjae691

Authors: Rae Hanke, Bryanna Emr, Matthew Taylor, Aodhnait S Fahy

Institutions: Penn State Health Children's Hospital, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Language: English

Topic: Myasthenia Gravis and Thymoma

Subfield: Neurology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,050