Presentation
Worsening weakness throughout course of day
Patient Data
Left sided ovalar mediastinal widening.
Anterior mediastinal soft tissue density mass, lungs clear, no pleural effusion.
Minimal left perihilar scarring, likely post-operative elevated left hemidiaphragm maybe secondary to phrenic nerve injury.
Case Discussion
This patient presented with clinical symptoms of progressively worsening weakness consistent with myasthenia gravis, and was subsequently found to have an anterior mediastinal mass on chest xray. Myasthenia gravis is a common paraneoplastic syndrome associated with thymomas. Thymomas are neoplasms of the thymus gland that are typically benign and most often located in the anterior mediastinum. It is more common in adults aged 40-70 years old.