A giant tumor of the mediastinum mixed with thymocytes and adipocytes: a case report

A 17-year-old male was hospitalized for 6 months with chest tightness and shortness of breath. Chest CT showed large mixed density shadow of anterior mediastinum, multiple flaky fat density shadow, left lower lung compression, atelectasis, partial compression of right lung and obvious heart pressure. The patient's symptoms are caused by the compression of the heart and lung by the mediastinal mass. The results of routine examination were normal. After excluding surgical contraindications, the patient underwent resection of a huge mediastinal tumor before median thoracotomy. The operation was smooth and the intraoperative vital signs were stable. The symptoms of chest tightness and shortness of breath disappeared after operation. The size of the tumor tissue removed after operation was about 45×30×25 cm³ and the weight was about 3.7 kg. The pathological diagnosis was thymolipoma. Postoperative reexamination of chest CT showed that the heart and lungs returned to the normal position. In this case, the operation is effective for large thymic tumors, and the symptoms of the patients are significantly relieved. Early diagnosis and surgical treatment are the key to improve the prognosis of patients. In this study, we reported a successful removal of a giant thymolipoma with complete disappearance of symptoms and no serious complications such as myasthenia gravis, aplastic anemia, and vitamin B12 deficiency.