A primary carcinoid tumor of the thymus showing ectopic ACTH syndrome was evaluated scintigraphically with four radiopharmaceuticals and a fluorescence method. Iodine-123-MIBG and 201Tl-Cl scintigraphy clearly demonstrated the tumor. Gallium-67-citrate and 99mTc(V)-DMSA showed no tumor uptake. The fluorescence method confirmed numerous storage granules of norepinephrine. Iodine-123-MIBG scintig...

Ectopic thymoma is considered to arise from ectopic thymus tissue deposited as a result of the abnormal mislocalization of thymus tissue during the embryonic stage. An 86-year-old man visited our hospital with chief complaints of hoarseness and a mass in his anterior neck. A preoperative needle biopsy of the mass did not yield a definitive diagnosis. A positron emission tomography (PET) study r...

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the thymus, previously termed thymic carcinoid, is a rare clinical entity. Rarer still are such cases presenting with endocrinopathies. We report a case of thymic neuroendocrine carcinoma presenting with ectopic adrenocorticotroic hormone production and resultant Cushing's syndrome.

Micronodular thymoma (MNT) with lymphoid stroma is a rare thymic epithelial neoplasm with the characteristics of multiple nodules separated by abundant lymphoid stroma. MNTs mainly arise in the anterior mediastinum and thymus, while ectopic MNTs are extremely rarely seen. Here, we report an ectopic MNT that occurred in the neck of a 62-year-old woman. There were also scattered eosinophilic gran...

Ectopic thymus tissue in the neck remains infrequently described in medical literature. This paper presents the case of a young girl, who presenting with a soft, fluctuating bulk mass on the left side of her neck. The patient underwent complete excision of the lesion and histological inspection showed an ectopic thymic tissue cyst. Ectopic thymic soft tissue may remain an uncommon finding, but ...

The thymus and parathyroids develop from third pharyngeal pouch (3rd pp) endoderm. Our previous studies show that Shh null mice have smaller, aparathyroid primordia in which thymus fate specification extends into the pharynx. SHH signaling is active in both dorsal pouch endoderm and neighboring neural crest (NC) mesenchyme. It is unclear which target tissue of SHH signaling is required for the ...

Ectopic cervical thymic tissue is rarely reported in medical literature, but it should be included in the differential diagnosis of neck masses, especially in children. The authors present the case of a young male with a soft right mid-cervical mass. The patient underwent complete excision of the lesion and histological examination showed an ectopic thymic cyst. The embryological development, c...