Background: An open thymectomy is a morbid procedure. If a minimally invasive thymectomy is performed without compromising the tenets of thymic surgery, it has the potential for decreasing morbidity and may offer similar clinical and oncologic results.
Methods: This is an institutional review board-approved, retrospective study of a single center's experience with both open (transsternal) and minimally invasive (video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery) thymectomy. Survival estimates and statistical comparisons were calculated using standard software.
Results: From 2000 to 2011, 263 patients (93 men; median age, 49 years; interquartile range, 37 to 60 years) underwent thymectomy for indications including myasthenia gravis (n=139) and mediastinal mass (n=108). Seventy-seven thymectomies were performed by minimally invasive approach. Both groups were equally stratified by sex, body mass index, World Health Organization and Masaoka-Koga staging, incidence of myasthenia gravis, and comorbidities except hyperlipidemia and diabetes. The minimally invasive thymectomy cohort had significantly shorter hospital (p<0.01) and intensive care unit lengths of stay (p<0.01) and a lower estimated blood loss (p<0.01). There was an insignificant difference in postoperative cardiac and respiratory complication rates as well as vocal cord paralysis (p=0.60). There was no difference in terms of operative room times (p=0.88) or volume of blood products transfused (p=0.16) between the two groups. Higher estimated blood loss was associated with higher intensive care unit admission rates (p<0.01). All minimally invasive thymoma resections were complete, with negative margins.
Conclusions: Minimally invasive thymectomy is safe and achieves a comparable resection and postoperative complication profile when used selectively for all indications, including myasthenia gravis and small thymomas without vascular invasion.
Copyright © 2012 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.