Experience of thymectomies at combined military hospital, Rawalpindi

From April 1998 to January 2002, 10 patients underwent thymectomy at Surgical Unit 1, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi. The mean age of these patients was 31 years. The most common indication for surgery was Myasthenia Gravis associated with Thymoma. Most of the patients were on high doses of Pyridostigmine and steroids for a long period of time. All patients underwent median sternotomy for thymectomy. Two of these patients needed additional treatment in the form of plasmapheresis and immunotherapy in the perioperative period. The mean hospital stay was 13.29 days. One of the patients went into Myasthenic crisis in the postoperative period, all the rest had uneventful recovery. On post-operative histopathology various pathological entities were seen including thymoma, primary germ cell tumor, carcinoid tumor and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the thymus