Aim:

To evaluate the results obtained from 38 patients undergoing surgery for tumors of the thymus at the Hospital Calderon Guardia.

Method:

All patients undergoing surgery for tumors of the thymus during the period 1996-2013 were studied.

Results:

38 patients underwent surgery for tumors of the thymus in the 17 years evaluated, 20 men and 18 women, with an average age of 50 years. In 26 cases resection was performed, which was macroscopically complete in 19. Of the 38 tumors, 20 were reports as malignant and 18 as benign. Of the 20 cases with malignant tumors, in 9 patients a resection was performed, in 6 resection was complete and in 3 incomplete, and 11 only had a biopsy; 16 of the 20 patients with malignant tumors received chemotherapy. Of the cases with malignant tumors 15 had over 5 years of the diagnosis, and of these 7 were alive, which corresponds to a 5 year survival of 47%. Thymomas accounted for 17% of all mediastinal tumors. The symptoms manifested by patients were due to compression caused by the tumor.

Conclusions:

The chest radiography was the most useful screening method. The route most used to take biopsy was mediastinotomy. Chemotherapy played an important role in survival as patients with incomplete resection were found alive five years after diagnosis. The treatment shown to be more effective for malignant thymoma was complete resection complemented with chemotherapy.