A 74-year-old male, who had been treated for hypertension at the out-patient clinic, was admitted to our hospital because of an abnormal shadow on a chest radiograph. After diagnosis of thymoma by needle biopsy surgery was carried out on July 6, 1995, when an extended thymectomy along with removal of the entire tumor was done. During the surgery it was noticed that there was not one, but two independent tumors located in the anterior mediastinum, the upper left portion was growing from the level of the crania to the left brachiocephalic vein, whereas the lower right portion was growing towards the right thoracic cavity in front of the pericardium. Both tumors were encapsulated firmly, and connected to each other by scantly loose connective tissues. There was no continuity or sarring between the two tumors. Histologically both were diagnosed to be lymphocytic thymoma. We believe that this case is a good example of multiple thymomas and provides evidence of the potential multicentricity of thymoma. It is possible that extended thymectomy may be seeded for a complete resection of thymomas.
Aged Humans