Minimally invasive thymus surgery in China: opportunities and challenges / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

ABSTRACT

After decades of development, thymus minimally invasive surgery has derived a variety of surgical methods. In selected cases, it can achieve equivalent therapeutic effect as open surgery. Because mediastinal disease is rare compared with other chest diseases, there is a lack of large-scale comparative study among different surgical methods, and the choice of surgical approaches is mostly based on the experience and habit of the operator. The purpose of this review is to discuss the evolution of minimally invasive thymus surgery, summarize several kinds of minimally invasive thymus surgery approaches that are widely used in and abroad, and analyze the integration and improvement strategies of minimally invasive thymus surgery in China.