THYMOLIPOMA - A REPORT OF 3 CASES

Three cases of thymolipoma, seen in a 6 year old boy, a 34 year old woman and a 24 year old man are presented herein. The weight of each tumor was 1380 g, 670 g and 560 g respectively. The 2 male patients had no symptoms and the woman only complained of a fever. On CT scan the thymic tissue was recognized as islands of soft tissue density within a fatty mass, and T1 weighted MRI was helpful in demonstrating the predominant fatty nature of this tumor. Thus, our experience demonstrates that CT and MRI are valuable for establishing a diagnosis of thymolipoma. In a review of the literature on the subject, some clinical features of this non-malignant tumor in the mediastinum are discussed. Although rare, thymolipoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of mediastinal tumors. © 1990 The Japan Surgical Society.