Robotic thymectomy: A surgical point of view

Robotic thymectomy is the most innovative surgical approach for treating disease of the anterior mediastinum. Robotic surgery offers low postoperative morbidity, faster recovery, shorter hospital stay, and better cosmetic results, without compromising surgical radicality. During the operation, the patient is placed in a supine position at the left edge of the operating table with the left hemithorax upward; the position is maintained with sandbags. The target area for the autodocking should be toward the jugulum. The first surgical step is to isolate the inferior thymic horns via the dissection that starts from the inferior portion of the mediastinal tissue and proceeds toward the right side, following the contralateral pleural reflection. Afterward, it is necessary to move toward the superior horns, following the phrenic nerve, the first landmark, to the innominate vein, our second landmark. Finally, we dissect the superior horns while searching for the thymic veins, which could appear atrophic, and clip the vessels to safely isolate the innominate vein. During this step, it is useful to use a retraction movement to progressively dissect the horns from the jugulum. The thymus gland is removed en bloc with the perithymus fat using an endoscopic bag inserted through the right port incision.

Abstract 17056: Report Of An Adult Living With Undiagnosed Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return

Case Presentation: 25-year-old male presented with cellulitis and abscess of the lower extremity. He was an immigrant from Guatemala. He worked in landscaping and played soccer with limited exertion. His exam was notable for cyanosis and clubbing of all digits. A II/VI systolic ejection murmur at the left upper sternal border and a mildly accentuated P2 was auscultated. ECG was notable for right axis deviation and right ventricle hypertrophy. Chest x-ray showed a widened mediastinum with perihilar vascular prominence. CT chest with contrast demonstrated all pulmonary veins forming a large, coalescing venous structure draining into the left innominate vein. Transthoracic echocardiogram confirmed total pulmonary venous return by way of a large vertical vein draining into a dilated innominate vein and a 2.7 cm ostium secundum ASD. Discussion: Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) is a rare, often deadly condition. Most patients die in infancy. In the rare adult patient with unrepaired TAPVR, exercise intolerance, cyanosis, clubbing of the digits, and growth retardation is often noted. A right ventricular heave with auscultation of a fixed, split second heart sound with a loud pulmonic component is common. On chest x-ray, the classic “snowman” appearance is seen with vertical vein connections as in our patient. Right heart enlargement represents the base, and an enlarged connecting vertical vein and SVC make up the upper portion. Echocardiography can demonstrate the anomalous pulmonary venous conduit coursing behind the left atrium. CT angiography can also reveal TAPVR and the patient’s specific anatomy. Amongst the few surviving adult TAPVR patients, similar characteristics include large ASDs, short anomalous veins, and absence of pulmonary venous obstruction. A large interatrial connection provides adequate systemic flow. The latter two factors reduce pulmonary vascular resistance, hence improving pulmonary flow and systemic oxygen concentrations.

Case Report: Surgical Therapy for Left Innominate Vein Aneurysm Under Thoracoscopy

Left innominate vein aneurysm is extremely rare, with a limited number of case reports present in the literature. Herein, we report a case of a 50-year-old female patient presenting with an incidental finding of an anterior mediastinal mass on chest radiography during a routine health examination. Contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (CT) of the chest showed a 4.8 × 4.6 cm anterior mediastinal mass with significant homogenous enhancement after injection of the contrast medium, suggesting a diagnosis of Castleman's disease, but not excluding thymoma. The patient underwent surgical resection of the anterior mediastinal mass under a thoracoscopic approach. Postoperative pathology confirmed the diagnosis of a left innominate vein aneurysm. This is the first case reporting a left innominate vein aneurysm resected under thoracoscopy. Despite this successful treatment experience, we need to emphasize that open thoracotomy or median sternotomy should be chosen as the first choice for surgeons who lack experience in thoracoscopic surgery, with the aim of avoiding intraoperative accidents.

An ectopic thymoma arising in the middle mediastinum that was difficult to distinguish from a lymph node metastasis

Background Ectopic thymomas often occur in the upper mediastinum; however, they rarely arise in the middle mediastinum, especially on the dorsal side of the innominate vein and superior vena cava in the peribronchial region. Case presentation Six years prior, a 27-year-old female presented to our department and was diagnosed with locally advanced left breast cancer. First, we administered chemotherapy including an anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 antibody. The size of the tumor was markedly reduced, and a radical operation involving mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection was then performed. The patient underwent radiotherapy after the mastectomy, followed by trastuzumab therapy; she continued to receive endocrine therapy thereafter. She underwent computed tomography once a year after the surgery, and a nodule in the middle mediastinum on the dorsal side of the innominate vein and superior vena cava in the parabronchial region was detected at 4 years. We speculated that the nodule was a solitary mediastinal lymph node metastasis from her breast cancer; therefore, we performed thoracoscopic resection of the tumor. We diagnosed the tumor as a thymoma. Currently, the patient visits our hospital to receive continuous hormone therapy for her breast cancer, and the latest computed tomography scan demonstrated no metastases from or recurrence of her breast cancer or thymoma. Conclusions We report a case of ectopic thymoma in the middle mediastinum. The tumor, which was detected during systemic therapy for locally advanced breast cancer, was located on the dorsal side of the innominate vein and superior vena cava in the parabronchial region and was indistinguishable from a lymph node metastasis from breast cancer.