Bronchogenic cysts mimicking thymoma in the anterior mediastinum

Abstract

Abstract Bronchogenic cysts are commonly located in the middle mediastinal compartment as fluid‐filled cysts and thymoma is one of the most common neoplasms in the anterior mediastinum in adult cases. For two cases of asymptomatic, incidentally discovered anterior mediastinal soft tissue mass in adults, we planned to perform complete thymectomy with minimally invasive techniques based on the guidelines of International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group. Their pathological finding revealed cystic lesions lined by ciliated epithelium and this supported the diagnosis of bronchogenic cyst rather than thymic neoplasm. We report the two cases of resected bronchogenic cysts which were in the unusual location of anterior mediastinum with uncommon radiological feature.

Keywords

• Bronchogenic cyst
• mediastinal neoplasms
• thoracic surgery
• thymoma
• video‐assisted