Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 2, 2026
Minimal Invasive Resection of Large Retrosternal Thyroid Goiter
Published on: September 20, 2024
Hybrid combination of small subxiphoid incision and thoracoscopic thymectomy for juvenile myasthenia gravis
Chou-Ming Yeh1, Hou-Chuan Chen2, Chia-Man Chou2
1Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Health, Taichung Hospital, Executive Yuan, Taichung, Taiwan.
Background/Purpose:
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease that usually responds positively to treatment with thymectomy. Various approaches via video-assisted thoracic thymectomy as a substitute for conventional sternotomy have been reported. We reported a less invasive technique for thymectomy in pediatric groups.
Methods:
Four adolescents with juvenile myasthenia gravis all underwent hybrid combination of small subxiphoid incision and thoracoscopic thymectomy at our institute. Clinical characteristics and surgical outcome were consecutively collected.
Results:
In these 4 patients, 2 presented with Osserman class III and 2 with class IIb. The mean operative time was 180 minutes. There was no conversion to sternotomy, and there was only minimal blood loss. Follow-up duration was 3 to 64 months. Postoperatively, 1 patient had complete remission and 3 patients had improvement in clinical symptoms.
Conclusion:
Hybrid combination of small subxiphoid incision and thoracoscopic thymectomy may be an effective alternative with low surgical invasiveness for treating juvenile myasthenia gravis.
