Surgical Resection of Hepatic Metastasis of Thymoma

ABSTRACT

The thymoma with extrathoracic metastasis is an exceedingly rare malady. We report here on the surgical resection and the pathologic findings of liver metastasis from an invasive thymoma in a 57-year-old female. In 1998, a benign thymoma in the anterosuperior mediastinum was removed from the patient and then postoperative radiation therapy was given. After 6 years, the patient complained of dyspnea, dry cough and abdominal pain. Abdominal CT and MRI showed an encapsulated and septated 19 x 14 cm sized cystic mass in the right liver. Right hepatectomy was done and it was shown to be a metastatic thymoma. An extensive literature review has revealed only a few cases of surgical resection of liver metastasis in a patient with invasive thymoma.