Abstract
A 65-year-old man presented with the chief complaint of fever in July, 2000. Chest X-ray revealed an abnormal shadow extending from the right hilus to the mediastinum. Chest CT revealed a mass with multiple nodes spread over the anterior mediastinum. Thymoma was suspected based on the results of percutaneous needle biopsy, and the patient underwent extended thymectomy on September 22, 2000. Intraoperatively, multiple cysts associated with inflammatory findings, such as thickening of the mediastinal pleura, adhesions and swelling of mediastinal lymph nodes were noted throughout the entire thymus. Histopathological findings revealed lymphoid follicular hyperplasia of thymic tissues but no neoplastic lesions. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of multilocular thymic cyst associated with thymic hyperplasia was made. This is a rare case that preoperatively was difficult to diagnose.
