A giant thymolipoma of the anterior mediastinum extending into the right hemithorax: a rare clinical case

Thymolipoma is a rare benign neoplasm of the chest cavity. Due to the long asymptomatic course, this pathology is detected in patients accidentally or when the tumor reaches gigantic sizes, when the compression syndrome of the chest organs and mediastinum manifests. Diagnosis of this tumor is difficult due to the variety of neoplasms of the anterior mediastinum. Detecting tumor tissue based to CT data is not difficult. However, verification of the diagnosis causes a number of difficulties due to the low information content of the obtained biopsy, which demonstrates only the presence of fatty tissue. When determining the exact diagnosis of "thymolipoma", the main treatment option is surgical removal of the tumor. The surgical approach should be chosen taking into account its size and topographic characteristics. This article presents a rare clinical observation of a patient with a giant thymolipoma of the anterior mediastinum with extension to the right hemithorax, who underwent radical surgical treatment through a sternotomy approach.