[Thymomas with a myasthenic syndrome]

2560 patients with generalized myasthenia (Gm) were operated during 1960-1996. Tumors of the thymus (TT) which are the most often neoplastic masses of anterior mediastinum were revealed in 312 patients. Among them organ-specific tumors (thymomas, cancers) were detected in 252 patients (95.8%). Comparative analysis of effectiveness of a number of special methods of diagnostics of TT showed that CT and magnetic resonance tomography are the most sensitive and specific methods. Thymoma-thymectomy was carried out in 247 patients, among them in 93 (37.7%)--extended one. Postoperative lethality made up 5.1%, last years (1990-1996) there were no fatal outcomes. Among early postoperative complications wound infection was observed in 2.5% of patients, pneumonia--in 1.3%, myasthenic crisis--in 1.6%. Basing on histogenetic classification, following kinds of thymomas were singled out: in 58.9% cortical ("light cellular"), in 2.2%--medullar ("dark cellular") and in 38.9%--mixed cellular thymomas. Long-term results of thymectomy in patients with Gm in various kinds of thymomas were different: at the 5th year of follow-up they are worse in cortical cellular types and much better in medullar--cellular and mixed cellular thymomas with prevalence of medullar component.