RT Book, Section
A1 Argote-Greene, Luis M.
A1 Jaklitsch, Michael T.
A1 Sugarbaker, David J.
A2 Sugarbaker, David J.
A2 Bueno, Raphael
A2 Colson, Yolonda L.
A2 Jaklitsch, Michael T.
A2 Krasna, Mark J.
A2 Mentzer, Steven J.
A2 Williams, Marcia
A2 Adams, Ann
SR Print(0)
ID 1105847480
T1 Thoracoscopic Approach to Thymectomy with Advice on Patients with Myasthenia Gravis
T2 Adult Chest Surgery, 2e
YR 2015
FD 2015
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-178189-3
LK accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1105847480
RD 2023/05/28
AB Thoracoscopy  is  the  application  of  video  imaging  technology  to  standard  thoracic  surgical  procedures.  The  thoracoscopic  approach  permits  indirect  visualization  of  the  thoracic  cavity  without  the  necessity  of  performing  a  full  thoracotomy.  Before  the  current  era,  the  standard  surgical  approach  to  thymectomy  was  through  a  midline  sternotomy  or  a  cervical  collar  incision.  In  the  last  two  decades,  however,  thoracoscopic  thymectomy  has  been  used  increasingly  in  selected  patients  as  a  means  of  reducing  pain  and  recovery  time  while  maintaining  the  quality  of  gland  removal,  as  well  as  comparable  remission  and  asymptomatic  disease  rates  compared  to  other  minimally  invasive  and  open  techniques.1  Thoracoscopic  thymectomy  is  a  good  alternative  to  standard  surgical  treatment  with  full  sternotomy  because  it  offers  excellent  visualization  (superior  to  the  collar  incision)  and  avoids  the  morbidity  of  a  sternal  division.  We  enthusiastically  advocate  a  thoracoscopic  approach  to  myasthenia  gravis  (MG),  thymic  cysts,  thymic  masses,  and  other  anterior  mediastinal  tumors,  including  small  (<2  cm)  thymomas.2,3  Bulky  thymomas  may  be  better  visualized  through  a  standard  sternotomy.  In  this  chapter,  we  describe  our  technique  for  thoracoscopic  thymectomy  with  particular  advice  on  ensuring  a  complete  resection.