[Thymoma and lupus disease (apropos of 2 cases]

Two new cases of association between a thymoma and a lupus illness are reported. The first was a women aged 42 years in whom were discovered simultaneously systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and a slowly invading thymoma, the histology of which was characterized by the predominance of epithelial cells; excision of this tumour did not appear to affect the evolution of the SLE. In the second case, a patient aged 60 years suffered from SLE ten months after the removal of a benign thymoma in which there was a predominance of lymphocytes. The SLE in this patient was easily controlled for more than a year by small doses of corticoids, but resulted in death after three years when anuria was associated with meningeal signs after the cessation of corticotherapy. The comparision of the data from these cases with those from eleven other cases in which there was association between a thymoma and SLE, brought to light several interesting facts. It is rare that SLE clearly precedes the discovery of the thymoma; it usually occurs afterwards or the two are discovered almost simultaneously. Collagenosis is of importance only when it coexists with a thymoma : starting later much more often than is usual in cases of SLE. The tumours were, in all but two cases, benign thymomas of different histological types, and their removal did not apparently influence the evolution of the SLE.