Timo ectopico: quando pensarci, la diagnosi per immagini, la gestione

Abstract

Ectopic thymic tissue is a rare occurrence in clinical practice. However, it could cause di- agnostic difficulties, especially in the paediatric age group, as it can mimic a cervical mass. In most cases, thymic ectopia is asymptomatic and the ectopic thymic tissue presents as a painless cervical mass. It could rarely cause stridor, dyspnoea, dysphonia and dys- phagia. Ultrasound is the first-level diagnostic investigation. Only in doubtful cases, mag- netic resonance imaging is almost always diagnostic, as the ectopic tissue shows signal intensity comparable to the normal thymus. The fine-needle aspiration may be avoided and conservative treatment may be performed through ultrasound follow-up. Surgical exci- sion is reserved when imaging and biopsy are still inconclusive or in the presence of symptoms. The paper presents a clinical case of asymptomatic cervical ectopic thymus in a healthy girl, suspected on ultrasound examination and confirmed on magnetic reso- nance imaging.