Needle tract implantation of thymoma after transthoracic needle biopsy

Abstract

The patient was a 78-year-old man who had prostate cancer and was undergoing hormone therapy. Chest computed tomography showed a 60-mm mass with an area of calcification in the anterior mediastinum. We performed an ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy, and diagnosed him with a thymoma. The patient underwent thymectomy, and the pathological diagnosis was type AB thymoma (WHO classification). A painless mass appeared in his right anterior chest wall 4 years after thymectomy, and was clinically diagnosed as a recurrence of thymoma. The tumor was excised, and the pathological diagnosis was thymoma. Because the surgical margins were positive, the patient underwent postoperative radiation therapy (60 Gy). The patient has been tumor-free for the past 4 years.