Posterior mediastinal accessory thymus

Saade, Michel; Whitten, Dana M.; Necheles, Thomas F.; Leape, Lucian L.; Darling, Donald M.

doi:10.1016/s0022-3476(76)80729-9

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…We also found thymic tissue in less common sites. Our case 34, where the right lobe of thymus was at the thoracic inlet, posterior to the innominate vein, was similar to several reported cases of posterior superior mediastinal lobes (9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Those were situated behind the superior vena cava or aortic arch, sometimes causing compression or deviation of the trachea (11) or esophagus (12).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Maldescent of the Thymus: 34 Necropsy and 10 Surgical Cases, Including 7 Thymuses Medial to the Mandible

Bale¹,

Sotelo‐Avila²

1993

Pediatric Pathology

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Among 3236 pediatric necropsies over 23 years, abnormal position of thymic tissue was recorded in 34 cases. Cardiac anomalies, predominantly those seen in DiGeorge syndrome, were present in 24; 3 had noncardiac anomalies only, 4 had other diseases, and 3 were sudden infant deaths. Mediastinal thymic tissue was absent in 22 cases, small or unilateral in 7, and normal in 5. The maldescended thymic tissue was unilateral in 18, bilateral in 11, and multiple on one or both sides in 5. It was situated near the thyroid gland in 19, lower in the neck in 6, and higher in 9, including 7 medial to the submandibular salivary gland and 1 at the base of the skull. The maldescended tissue approached the size of a normal lobe of thymus in eight and was 2.4 to 0.1 cm in the remainder. Over the same period, in only two cases was no thymic tissue found. Among 68,000 surgical specimens over 40 years, there were 10 cases of ectopic thymus in the neck, including 1 cutaneous and 4 cystic. This frequency of thymic tissue in the neck may explain why lymphoid tissues are sometimes relatively normal in cases of absent mediastinal thymus and behooves a search in the submandibular salivary gland region and higher before diagnosing thymic agenesis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Maldescent of the Thymus: 34 Necropsy and 10 Surgical Cases, Including 7 Thymuses Medial to the Mandible

Bale¹,

Sotelo‐Avila²

1993

Pediatric Pathology

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“…GUrnour (3) demon trated that thymus may be present in any location along a line extending from lhe original position in lhe neck to lhe final superior mediastinum, and this i now the accepted explanation for lhe pathogenesi of lhe thymic cysts based on persistence of lhe lhymopharyngeal duct (2). This resembled lhe pathogenesis of thyroglossal cysts, but does not explain the presence of ectopic thymic tissue in other sites, other than along the line of descent of thymopharyngeal tracL Ectopic thymic tissue has been identified in several places including the pharynx (12), trachea (5), base of skull (12), in the neck (8,11), and in the posterior mediastinum (10). There has also been reports of a malignant transformation in association EurJ Pediatr Surg 2 (/992) 107 with aberrant lhymus (12).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accurate pre-operati\'e diagnosis is now possible in the majority of cases with the aid of the different laboratory and radiographic tudies; howe\"er, 10 confirm the diagnosis and alle\'iate symptoms urgical excision is necessary. Ectopic thymic tissue can remain dormant and asymptomatic for many year or may be discO\'ered incidentally 01' al autopsy (11).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ectopic Thymic Tissue Simulating - A Posterior Mediastinal Mass

Al-Salem¹

1992

Eur J Pediatr Surg

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“…[3] Posterior mediastinal accessory thymus is extremely rare. [4–9] However, details about the presence or absence of a normal thymus located in the normal position are not available. [9]…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accessory thymus in posterior mediastinum

Bhatnagar

Pradhan

Shastri

et al. 2008

J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg

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Presence of thymus in the normal position as well as in the posterior mediastinum is an unusual phenomenon. We report here a case of posterior mediastinal mass in a 20-month old male child who presented with dysphagia and dry cough. Investigations revealed it to be a solid posterior mediastinal mass, suspected to be either lymphoma or a neuroblastoma. Excision of the mass followed by histopathologic examination revealed the mass to be a normal thymus. This case indicates that a benign mass, an accessory thymus, though rare, can be located in the posterior mediastinum and cause symptoms similar to solid mediastinal tumors.

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Posterior mediastinal accessory thymus

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Maldescent of the Thymus: 34 Necropsy and 10 Surgical Cases, Including 7 Thymuses Medial to the Mandible

Maldescent of the Thymus: 34 Necropsy and 10 Surgical Cases, Including 7 Thymuses Medial to the Mandible

Ectopic Thymic Tissue Simulating - A Posterior Mediastinal Mass

Accessory thymus in posterior mediastinum

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