Thymic Rosai-Dorfmann disease: a case report

Abstract

Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD), known as sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, commonly involves lymph nodes in neck or mediastinum, although extra-nodal involvement was observed in about 40% RDD patients. RDD that merely involved thymus was very rarely reported. We report a RDD case with thymic origin. A 52-year-old male was accidently found to have a 7×6 cm anterior mediastinum lump by chest computed tomography (CT) scan. The mediastinal lesion was resected by surgery and postoperative pathology revealed to be RDD originated from thymus. Regular telephone follow-up after surgery, that was continued for 3 years to date, showed that the patient maintained in good conditions without any relevant symptoms.