Onteddu NKR, Mareddy NSR, Vulasala SSR, Onteddu J, Virarkar M. Multilocular thymic cysts- a diagnostic challenge on computed tomography. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(3): 95167 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i3.95167]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sai Swarupa R Vulasala, MD, Doctor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, 655 West 8th Street, C90, 2nd Floor, Clinical Center, Jacksonville, FL 32209, United States. vulasalaswarupa@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2025; 13(3): 95167 Published online Jan 26, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i3.95167
Multilocular thymic cysts- a diagnostic challenge on computed tomography
Nirmal Kumar Reddy Onteddu, Naga Sai Rasagna Mareddy, Sai Swarupa R Vulasala, Jayabharath Onteddu, Mayur Virarkar
Nirmal Kumar Reddy Onteddu, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL 32209, United States
Naga Sai Rasagna Mareddy, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States
Sai Swarupa R Vulasala, Mayur Virarkar, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL 32209, United States
Jayabharath Onteddu, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, United States
Author contributions: Mareddy NSR, Vulasala SSR, Onteddu J performed the literature review and wrote the manuscript; Onteddu NKR and Virarkar M critically revised the manuscript and supervised the work; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All Authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sai Swarupa R Vulasala, MD, Doctor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, 655 West 8th Street, C90, 2nd Floor, Clinical Center, Jacksonville, FL 32209, United States. vulasalaswarupa@gmail.com
Received: April 3, 2024 Revised: October 9, 2024 Accepted: October 28, 2024 Published online: January 26, 2025 Processing time: 223 Days and 5.1 Hours
Abstract
A recent case report provided a patient scenario, wherein, a 39-year-old male patient presented with occasional palpitations, headache, and fever. Evaluation of tumor markers did not show any abnormal results. Subsequently, a computed tomography (CT) scan was undertaken, and its findings were affirmative of thymic cancer. Finally, the postoperative histopathological assessment of the mass, after its resection, confirmed it as an anterior mediastinal multilocular thymic cyst (MTC), with concurrent acute upper respiratory tract infection and acute myocarditis. Accordingly, this case report advocates the need for a preoperative histopathological examination with CT imaging to minimize the risk of confusing an MTC with a malignant thymic tumor.
Core Tip: The simultaneous use of histopathology and imaging modalities is the best approach to distinguish a rare mediastinal lesion, such as multilocular thymic cyst, from thymic cancer. Surgeons must not solely rely on computed tomography findings and correlate them with preoperative pathological investigation of the mediastinal mass to avoid the risk of incorrect diagnosis.
