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Case Reports
. 2023 Jan 6;11(1):164-171.
doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i1.164.

Thymic lipofibroadenomas: Three case reports

Mai-Qing Yang  1 , Zhi-Qiang Wang  2 , Li-Qian Chen  1 , Su-Mei Gao  1 , Xing-Ning Fu  1 , Hai-Ning Zhang  3 , Ke-Xin Zhang  3 , Hong-Tao Xu  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Thymic lipofibroadenomas: Three case reports

Mai-Qing Yang et al. World J Clin Cases. .

Abstract

Background: Thymic lipofibroadenomas are extremely rare. In this study, we investigated the clinicopathological characteristics of thymic lipofibroadenomas.

Case summary: This study included three patients with thymic lipofibroadenomas. We retrospectively analyzed the patient data to determine the clinicopathological characteristics of thymic lipofibroadenomas. The study included one man and two women [mean age, 43 (33-59) years]. All patients were non-smokers and presented with well-defined anterior mediastinal tumors. The cut surfaces of the tumors were solid, with a mixture of yellow and white areas. Microscopic evaluation of resected specimens showed scattered cord-like structures of epithelial cells embedded within abundant fibrotic and hyaline stroma admixed with variable quantities of adipose tissue. One patient showed hyperplastic thymic tissue in a part of the tumor.

Conclusion: Thymic lipofibroadenomas are an extremely rare type of benign thymic tumor. Surgical removal of lipofibroadenomas is usually curative.

Keywords: Case report; Clinicopathological characteristics; Lipofibroadenoma; Rare thymic tumor; Thoracic tumor; Thymoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Computed tomography scan of the chest. A and B: In case 1, computed tomography scan revealed the mass shadow in the anterior mediastinum, about 3.9 cm × 1.8 cm in size, with clear boundary; C and D: In case 2, computed tomography scan revealed irregular mass shadow in the anterior upper mediastinum, about 7.1 cm × 7.5 cm in size, with clear boundary, protruding to the right lung, uneven internal density, fat density shadow could be seen, and the boundary between the lesion and adjacent large blood vessels and cardiac structures was unclear; E and F: In case 3, computed tomography scan revealed lumpy shadows about 9.9 cm × 9.8 cm × 4.9 cm in size beside the anterior middle mediastinum, with spot-like calcification, and small patchy low-density shadows in it. The boundary of tumor mass was clear.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Histological features of the thymic lipofibroadenoma. A: The tumor was all well circumscribed, and a clear connective capsule was observed between the tumor and the remaining thymus. [hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, × 40]; B and C: The tumor was composed of fibrotic and hyaline stroma, narrow strands of epithelial cells and adipose tissues. The blank-looking epithelial cells formed narrow cords and interspersed in fibrotic and hyaline stroma. (H&E staining, B, × 40; C, × 100); D: Some adipocytes were mixed with the fibrotic stroma. Abundant adipose tissue also can be seen in some areas. (H&E staining, × 100); E: A few lymphocytes were mixed with the epithelial cells. Residual Hassall corpuscles and small calcifications could be seen in some region. (H&E staining, × 200); F: In case 2, hyperplastic thymic tissue was observed in part of the tumor. (H&E staining, × 100).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Immunohistochemical staining of thymic lipofibroadenoma. A and B: Epithelial cells positive for broad-spectrum CK (A), and P63 (B) (× 100); C: lymphocytes were positive for CD3 (× 100); D: Some lymphocytes were positive for TdT (× 200).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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