Port-site recurrence after complete resection of stage I thymoma by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: report of a case.

A 62-year-old female with myasthenia gravis and a mediastinal tumor underwent extended thymothymectomy by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). The tumor was diagnosed as a stage I type B2 thymoma. Eight years after the initial surgery, an abnormal shadow was detected on the annual follow-up chest radiograph, and computed tomography showed a homogeneous 35 × 15 mm hemispherical mass under a port-site scar in the right anterior chest wall. The mass was between the second and third ribs and was found to be adherent to the lung during surgery, and was excised via lung and chest wall resection. The pathological examination confirmed that it was a type B2 thymoma invading the third rib, and the tumor was considered to be a port-site recurrence. Care should be taken during VATS to avoid contact between the tumor surface and the port tracts to prevent tumor cell implantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]