Predicting Role of Preoperative Computed Tomography Features on Invasiveness of Thymic Neoplasms

Objective: The anterior mediastinal masses are composed of neoplasms from many different groups, thymic epithelial tumors being the most common type. Histologic subtype, tumor stage and completeness of resection are considered to be the most important prognostic factors in thymic malignancies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between the preoperative Computed Tomography characteristics and the histological types, mostly focusing on thymic neoplasms. Materials and Methods: Preoperative Computed Tomography features and pathologic data of 40 patients who underwent surgery due to an anterior mediastinal mass were retrospectively analyzed. Patients are grouped as thymomas, thymic carcinomas and others. Results: Computed Tomography characteristics such as shape, contour, necrosis, lymph node enlargement, surrounding organization, pathologic invasion pattern, internal density, presence of cystic component, pleural/pericardial effusion and calcification were compared with histologic subtypes. Among these parameters solely pathologic invasion and surrounding organization were statistically different between the groups (p<0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Correlation between the Computed Tomography and pathologic tumor sizes among histologic subtypes was also analyzed and no statistically significant difference between Computed Tomography and pathologic tumor sizes was detected (p>0,05). Conclusion: According to the results of our study, Computed Tomography imaging has a limited role in predicting stage and malignant potential particularly for thymic neoplasms and anterior mediastinal masses.