J Lung Cancer.  2012 Jun;11(1):45-47. 10.6058/jlc.2012.11.1.45.

Multilocular Thymic Cyst with Prominent Lymphoid Follicular Hyperplasia: A Case Report

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. hanjho@skku.edu
  • 2Department of Thoracic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

We present herein an unusual case of multilocular thymic cyst, with prominent lymphoid follicular hyperplasia, in a 64-year-old man. It was incidentally founded as a mediastinal mass on chest radiography, during a routine health check-up. Computed tomography revealed a cystic lesion, which contains thick septa involving the thymus. The resected mass, 8x4 cm in diameter, involved the thymus and there is no adhesion or invasion into the adjacent tissue. The cut surface showed cystic spaces with thick white-tan firm wall, which cysts contained gelatinous material. Microscopically, the lesion was characterized by multiple cysts, lined by flattened cuboidal epithelium that was separated by thick walls, having a dense lymphoid tissue with lymphoid follicles. The patient was discharged without any complication and is well without evidence of recurrence for sixteen months.

Keyword

Thymic cyst; Lymphoid hyperplasia; Mediastinal diseases

MeSH Terms

Epithelium
Gelatin
Humans
Hyperplasia
Lymphoid Tissue
Mediastinal Cyst
Mediastinal Diseases
Middle Aged
Recurrence
Thorax
Thymus Gland
Gelatin

Figure

  • Fig. 1 (A) Chest computed tomography shows a non-enhanced muticystic mass in the anterior mediastinum. (B, C) The mass, 8×4 cm in size, consists of variable sized cystic spaces separated by thick septa. The each cyst is packed with light-yellow gelatinous material and the cyst walls are white-tan in color after formalin fixation. (D~F) Microscopically, the cysts are separated by thick fibrous walls, in which diffuse lymphoid follicle including reactive germinal centers present. The cysts are lined by flattened cuboidal epithelium (D: H&E staining ×100, E: H&E staining ×200, F: H&E staining ×400).


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