Thymic Diseases as Revealed by a Series of Consecutive Thymectomies and Biopsies from the Thymus

Abstract

A series of 85 thymic biopsies and specimens from thymectomies were re-examined. Forty-five of these were taken from patients with myasthenia gravis. A relatively low frequency of thymitis (57%) was found in these patients, while the frequency of thymoma (9%) was as expected. Two cases of thymitis in thyrotoxicosis were included in the material. In all, 22 thymomas of various kinds (18% of the total material) were diagnosed. A fairly low proportion of these thymomas (18%) were from patients with myasthenia gravis.