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Spontaneous rupture of a giant thymoma causing hemothorax and cardiopulmonary collapse
Swetha Lakshminarayanan1, Miguel A Ureña-Perez1, Israel Ramirez-Sanchez2
1Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of California, San Diego, United States.
Abstract:
Spontaneous rupture of a thymoma is a rare event. An 81-year-old female presented with an asymptomatic 14-cm thymoma in the mid-upper mediastinum, extending to the right diaphragm for thymectomy. Two days before surgery, she developed acute dyspnea and chest pain. Admission chest roentgenogram showed a new large right pleural effusion. Thoracoscopic drainage of 2200 mL of blood mixed with necrotic tumor debris revealed a posterior rupture of her thymoma. The mass was resected via median sternotomy, and the chest irrigated. Her postoperative course was uneventful. Final pathology showed Type A thymoma with an 8-cm perforation, with ruptured intratumoral and capsular veins.
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