Thymolipoma of the anterior mediastinum: videothoracoscopic removal using a bilateral approach

Thymolipoma, a rare benign neoplasm of the anterior mediastinum, is often asymptomatic and as a result it can become quite large before it is diagnosed. CT is the most accurate diagnostic technique to identify the adipose tissue, but it often cannot make a differential diagnosis differentiating it from other anterior mediastinal masses; transthoracic biopsy also reveals the presence of fatty tissue, but a definitive diagnosis can only be achieved by means of surgical excision, which is also curative. We describe the case of a young woman who presented with a fatty neoplasm of the anterior mediastinum. The mass was removed using single-stage bilateral sequential videothoracoscopy. The histopathological diagnosis was thymolipoma.