A surgical case of Hodgkin's lymphoma originated from thymus

We experienced a surgical case of large Hodgkin's lymphoma of the thymus. An 18 year-old male who had been complaining of a persistent cough was admitted to our hospital. Chest X-ray film showed an anterosuperior mediastinal tumor. But there was no superficial lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. He received a surgical extirpation of the tumor approached by median sternotomy. The tumor expanded to the whole antero superior mediastinal region, which was 18.5 X 15 X 5.5 cm in size, surrounding the trachea and main branch of aortic arch and veins. The tumor directly invaded the bilateral pleura and left innominate vein, so these regions were resected with the tumor. The left innominate vein was reconstructed with a PTFE graft. The pathological diagnosis was Hodgkin's lymphoma nodular sclerosis type by LSG classification. A post operative course was uneventful.