Percutaneous Cryoablation for the Treatment of Recurrent Thymoma: Preliminary Safety and Efficacy

Thymoma is the most common primary tumor of the anterior mediastinum and often recurs after initial surgical resection. In this case series, percutaneous cryoablation, a locally ablative technique, was used to treat 25 mediastinal and pleural recurrent thymoma lesions in five patients. Safety and short-term efficacy data were collected. In 23 percutaneous cryoablations (92%), there were no or minimal complications. One serious complication, myasthenia gravis flare, occurred. Over the duration of follow-up (median, 331 d), 18 of 20 ablated lesions (90%) showed no evidence of local recurrence. Percutaneous cryoablation shows promise as a safe and effective treatment modality for recurrent thymoma.