Thymectomy information
Primary surgery for thymic epithelial tumours without involvement of the pleura (Scenario 1): There were 3 TET resections (thymomectomies) without thymectomy, 5 thymomectomies combined with basic thymectomies (removal of thymic lobes) and 22 thymomectomies in conjunction with extended thymectomies (basic thymectomy plus resection of mediastinal and cervical fatty tissue). All patients had a recurrence to the pleura (Fig. 2).
Primary pleural surgery (Scenario 2): There was 6 thymomectomies, 1 thymomectomy combined with basic thymectomy (removal of the thymic lobes) and 64 thymomectomies in conjunction with extended thymectomies. There were 3 recurrences after thymomectomy only (50%), after thymomectomy plus basic thymectomy 1 (100%) and thymomectomy combined with extended thymectomy 26 (49.0%).