Thymus hyperplasia

Thymus hyperplasia refers to an enlargement ("hyperplasia") of the thymus.[1]

Thymus hyperplasia
Other namesThymic hyperplasia
SpecialtyImmunology 

It is not always a disease state. The size of the thymus usually peaks during adolescence, and atrophies in the following decades. Before the immune function of the thymus was well understood, the enlargement was sometimes seen as a cause for alarm, and justification for surgical reduction. This approach is much less common today.

It can be associated with myasthenia gravis.[2][3]

MRI can be used to distinguish it from thymoma.[4]

References
  1. "eMedicine - Surgery of the Thymus Gland : Article by Said Fadi Yassin". 2019-02-26. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Thymus, hyperplasia". Medcyclopaedia. GE.
  3. Murakami M, Hosoi Y, Negishi T, et al. (November 1996). "Thymic hyperplasia in patients with Graves' disease. Identification of thyrotropin receptors in human thymus". J. Clin. Invest. 98 (10): 2228–34. doi:10.1172/JCI119032. PMC 507671. PMID 8941638.
  4. Inaoka T, Takahashi K, Mineta M, et al. (June 2007). "Thymic hyperplasia and thymus gland tumors: differentiation with chemical shift MR imaging". Radiology. 243 (3): 869–76. doi:10.1148/radiol.2433060797. PMID 17463136.
Classification
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