Abstract
Pericardial effusion may accompany many diseases and its differential diagnosis is broad. The most common causes include acute pericarditis of different etiology, pericardial involvement in systemic diseases, myocardial infarction, malignant pericardial effusion and hypothyreosis.
We report a case report of 56-year-old asymptomatic man with a large pericardial effusion and pathological mass in the anterior mediastinum on chest CT examinations with suspected thymoma. Transternal thymectomia and pericardial fenestration was performed, histological examination confirmed thymoma.
Thymoma is known for its association with myasthenia gravis and paraneoplastic autoimmune disease, however half of the patients are asymptomatic. It is essential to distinguish thymoma from aggressive thymic carcinoma.
Surgical resection is a basic curative procedure and radical removment of thymoma allows long-term survival.