• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.859-866
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• 1985

The characteristic features of myasthenia gravis, which are weakness of voluntary muscle and easy fatigability, result from defective neuromuscular transmission caused by an autoimmune response to acetylcholine receptor. Recently, we performed two cases of thymectomy for the treatment of myasthenia gravis, one was 50 year old man who had malignant thymoma and the other was 19 year old girl who had benign thymic hyperplasia. The former had long duration of symptoms, and showed poor postoperative result. The latter had short duration of symptoms, and showed complete remission. Herewith, we suggest that early thymectomy can give the clinical assets for myasthenia gravis. So we report these two experiences with review of literatures.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.490-494
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• 1980

Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disorder manifested by fatigability and weakness of voluntary muscles. The basic defect in the myasthenia is reduction of available acetylcholine receptors at neuromuscuiar junctions by an autoimmune attack. Removal of the thymus gland now play an Important role in the management of this disease. We have two experiences of thymectomy for myasthenic patients. The 31-year-old housewife(J.H) was admitted to the Taegu Presbyterian Medical Center because of bilateral ptosis, mastication and swallowing difficulties. The presence of thymoma was strongly suggested by roentgenographic studies. A 99.8 gm thymoma was removed completely by total thymectomy. On the 2nd postoperative day respiratory failure developed. Tracheostomy was performed and ventilatory assist was given for 3 days. The patient was completely recovered with antichollestrase drug only. C.N. was 17-year-old girl who has the symptoms of bilateral ptosis and diplopia for 3 years. Tensilon test was positive and antichollnestrase was given for several months, but the patient showed no improvement. After thymectomy she was free from myasthenic symptoms with out anticholinestrase drug.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.844-849
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• 1992

Between 1979 and 1991 thymectomy was performed on 31 patients with myasthenia gravis at the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, Keimyung University medical school. All patients were treated by transsternal thymectomy. During follow-up period that ranged from a month to 10.7 years[mean 2 years], the remission rate for the entire group was 16.1 percent and an additional 71.0 percent had improvement [87.1 percent benefited]. In those 8 patients with thymoma, the remission rate was 12.5 percent with 75.0 percent of the patients benefiting from operations The remainimg 23 patients fared better the operations: 17.4 percent had remission and a total of 91.4 percent benefited. There was no mortality, I concluded that most patients with myasthenia gravis will benefit from thymectomy, and that the improvement persists over an extended period of time in a high percentage of patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.417-421
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• 2022

Minimally invasive strategies are increasingly popular in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG)-associated thymomas. Within the context of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) as a widely known minimally invasive option, the most recent achievement is uniportal subxiphoid VATS. In MG patients, it is mandatory (1) to minimize perioperative interference with administered anesthetics to avoid complications and (2) to achieve a complete surgical resection, as the prognosis essentially depends on radical tumor resection. In order to fulfill these criteria, we merged this surgical technique with its anesthesiologic counterpart: regional anesthesia with the maintenance of spontaneous ventilation via a laryngeal mask. Non-intubated uniportal subxiphoid VATS for extended thymectomy allowed radical thymectomy in all MG patients with both rapid symptom control and fast recovery.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2020

Objective: The appropriate function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is essential for maintaining proper reproductive function. In female mammals, the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis regulates reproductive changes that take place in the estrus cycle and are necessary for successful reproduction. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of thymectomy on the estrus cycle in neonatally thymectomized guinea pigs. Methods: In this study, 12 female guinea pigs, six thymectomized and six sham-operated, were studied. The effects of neonatal thymectomy at 5-7 days of age on parameters of the reproductive axis were examined in female guinea pigs. Gonadotropin and 17β-estradiol levels were assessed at regular intervals (days 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15) of the estrus cycle, and the time of vaginal opening in the thymectomized and shamoperated guinea pigs was determined. Results: Significant reductions in gonadotropins and 17β-estradiol levels during estrus cycle were found in neonatally thymectomized female guinea pigs compared to sham-operated guinea pigs. Conclusion: The results of this study underscore the importance of the thymus in the neonatal period for normal female reproductive function.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1125-1132
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• 1991

Myasthenia gravis is a disorder of neuromuscular transmission which is characterized fatigue and weakness of the voluntary muscle. From 1985. 1 to 1991.6, 34 patients underwent managed including 12 patient thymectomy, at the kyunghee medical center. A clinical analysis was performed and following result was obtained. Among the 34 patients, male to female ratio was 11 : 23 and the age was ranged from 2 years to 63 years. Thymectomy was done in 12 case and 1 case of malignant thymoma was not resectable. There were 2 deaths after operation due to respiratory failure and 1 death dur to gradually progression. THe effect of thymectomy in mtasthenia graves was 66.7% (8cases). The prognostic factors were severity of the disease and histopathological findings. Others were not related to the prognosis of the mayasthenia gravis. The severity of the myasthenia gravis was classified by Osserman modified classification.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1516-1522
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• 1992

Thirty patients with myasthenis gravis[MG] underwent transternal extended thymectomy between 1983 and 1992 in Pusan National University Hospital. The age of patients was 11 to 62 years[mean; 35.2 years] with female dominant[M: F=l: 4]. According to modified Osserman classification, group I was in 6, II A in 7, II B in 13, III in 2, IV in 2 patients respectively. Their clinical response to thymectomy was evaluated. The follow-up period ranged from 2 months to 9.5 years[average; 51.3 months]. Fourteen patients[13.3%] had remission and eleven[43.3%] were improved after operation; half of patients were benefited from operation. Twenty patients had thymic hyperplasia and seven had non-infiltrating thymoma. In thymomatous MG one patient had remission and five were improved. Postoperative death was in a female patient. The cause of death was respiratory failure in the severe generalized MG preoperatively.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.78-80
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• 1995

We report the thoracoscopic resection of thymus and pericardial fat tissue in a patient who was in the setting of late severe myasthenia gravis[Osserman`s Group II-C-2 and previous tracheostomy state. The patient was 33-year-old female. She had been supported with mechanical ventilator for 88 days and suffered from recurrent pneumonia. Our first aim was to weaning her from mechanical ventilator. Traditional methods such as median sternotomy or transcervial thymectomy or transsternal sternotomy were difficult because of the anticipating complications of mediastinitis or morbidity, especially chest pain, following thoracotomy. We could wean her from the mechanical ventilator at postoperative 9 days. So, we concluded that video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy is a useful alternative tool in this case.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.314-318
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• 2021

In this paper, I present the technique of subxiphoid single-port video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) thymectomy for thoracic surgeons to perform this procedure safely. This procedure is indicated for all anterior mediastinal masses and may be extended to lung cancer. The patient is placed in the lithotomy position, and the operator should be on the midline. Below the xiphoid process, a skin incision is made 4-5 cm horizontally at a single thumb's width down. Under two-lung ventilation, CO₂ is insufflated, maintaining 10 mm Hg. The fat tissue and thymic tissue are all resected from the sternum and pericardium between both phrenic nerves using an articulated grasper and an energy device. After retrieval of the mass with a wrap bag, a Jackson-Pratt drain is inserted instead of a chest tube. One of the advantages of this procedure is less postoperative pain than intercostal VATS. The subxiphoid approach can be used for bilateral pneumothorax, bilateral pulmonary metastasectomy, and simple lobectomy for both upper lobes and the right middle lobe.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.1010-1016
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• 1996

Thymectomy is an accepted therapeutic modality for patients with myasthenia gravis. The selection of patients for operation, the timing of operation and the surgical approach are still controversial. We reviewed 82 patientsraged 13 to 66 years; mean age, 37.7 years treated with transsternal thymectomy between January 1983 and December 1994. Patients were symptomatically staged according to the modified Osserman's classification. There was one hospital death and postoperative follow-up was obtained on 75 patients. During a mean follow up of 56.9 months, 64 patients (85.3%) benefited from the operation with complete remis ion achieved in 28(37.3%). The thyroid disease was present in 8 patients, of whom 7(87. 5%) achieved complete remission in contrast to 21 (31.3%) of the 67 patients without thyroid disease. The disease duration less than 2 years in 32 patients was associated with complete remission in 16 (50%) in contrast to remission in 12(27.4%) of the 43 patients whose disease duration was more than 2 years. In conclusion, the complete remission rate after transsternal thymectomy was affected by the presence of thyroid disease and disease duration. Myasthenia gravis with late onset(>40 years), thymoma pathology, old age and male gender appear to decrease the complete remission rate after transsternal thymectomy, although it was not statistically significant. There was no difference of complete'remission rate between normal and hyperplasia of thymus. Transsternal thymectomy was found to be beneficial in most patients with myasthenia gravis, but the majority of patients with ocular disease did not b nefit from the operation.