Middle mediastinal thymic carcinoma with cystic findings in radiologic images: a case report

Abstract

BackgroundThymic carcinomas are usually detected in the anterior mediastinum. Thymic carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum and showing an image of a cyst is extremely rare.Case presentationA 64-year-old man with a middle mediastinal tumor detected incidentally by a CT scan was referred. Chest CT showed an entirely cystic mass in the middle mediastinum between the bilateral brachiocephalic vein and trachea. We resected the tumor completely in the right recurrent nerve because it had invaded the nerve. Immunohistochemical features showed a thymic carcinoma pattern. The final diagnosis was thymic squamous cell carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum.ConclusionTo our best knowledge, this is the first report of a thymic carcinoma occurring in the middle mediastinum, as demonstrated by histopathological findings with immunohistochemical features.

CT Findings of Thymic Epidermoid Cyst in the Anterior Mediastinum: A Case Report and Literature Review

“…In particular, cystic thymomas appear as cystic masses with enhancing mural nodules or septae ( 4 ). Likewise, thymic carcinoma could present as a cystic mass, although it is rare ( 6 ). Shinohara et al ( 6 ) reported a case of thymic carcinoma with cystic change, which had no solid component detected on CT images, due to malignant components too small to be detected by CT.…”

“…Likewise, thymic carcinoma could present as a cystic mass, although it is rare ( 6 ). Shinohara et al ( 6 ) reported a case of thymic carcinoma with cystic change, which had no solid component detected on CT images, due to malignant components too small to be detected by CT. Therefore, even with a mass not showing definite enhancement in our case, the finding of heterogeneous attenuation with low or high-attenuation areas within the mass could not exclude the possibility of thymic neoplasm with cystic change.…”