Abstract
A 46-year-old female was admitted because of chest pain. Chest X-ray and thoracic computed tomography showed masses located in the anterior mediastinum and the sternum. A needle biopsy of the anterior mediastinal mass revealed undifferentiated carcinoma. On June 5, 1997, the sternal tumor including marginal tissue was resected and the anterior mediastinal tumor was removed with the combined resection of the thymic tissue, the upper lobe of left lung and the left brachiocephalic vein. A chest wall defect was reconstructed by means of a pedicled rectal abdominal muscle flap.rThe pathological diagnosis was an undifferentiated thymic carcinoma. After the surgery, she was treated by systemic chemotherapy and mediastinal irradiation. Two years after the operation, a solitary metastasis of the right tibia was pointed out. She was treated by radiation therapy, then had gotten complete remission. Thymic carcinoma has a poor prognosis, but this patient has survived without another recurrence since that metastasis was found.
