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Ectopic thymoma of the chest wall

^a Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cardiothoracic Centre, Liverpool L14 3 PE, UK
^b Department of Pathology, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, UK

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-151-2205049. E-mail address: kardiac_pai{at}rediffmail.com (K.R. Pai).

A case of ectopic thymoma arising from the chest wall is reported. A chest wall tumour involving the third and fourth ribs and extending extrapleurally and subpectorally was resected following a histopathological diagnosis of hemangioendothelioma obtained at initial incision biopsy. Pathological examination of the excised mass, revealed appearances consistent with a malignant thymoma. No primary thymic tumour was present in the anterior mediastinum so we conclude that the tumour originated in ectopic thymic tissue. To our knowledge a primary thymoma arising within the chest wall has not been reported.

Key Words: Ectopic thymoma; Chest wall