Open AccessA bimodal approach to thymic carcinoma with pericardial sac invasion
Author(s) -
Adnan Ahmed,
Sarthak Soin,
Sabah Patel
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr-2018-229136
Subject(s) - medicine , thymic carcinoma , chest pain , radiology , carcinoma , pericardial effusion , rare disease , thorax (insect anatomy) , metastasis , disease , surgery , thymoma , cancer , anatomy
Thymic carcinoma is a rare tumour of the thymus, representing less than 1% of thymic malignancies. 1 It has an annual incidence of 0.15-0.32 per 1 00 000 person-years. 2 It is found incidentally in 30% of the patients as an opacity on chest X-ray or with non-specific complaints of persistent cough, chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, arm and facial swelling, and upper airway congestion related to tumour extension. We present the case of a 59-year-old man with a history of Graves' disease status post radiation treatment presenting with cough and left lingual opacity on chest X-ray, confirmed to be thymic carcinoma with pericardial invasion and lymph node metastasis. We aim to discuss the presentation, treatment modalities and outcome associated with this rare tumour.