Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37261095›Full record

ArticleMediastinum (Hong Kong, China)2023

Intralesional microbleeding in resected thymic cysts indeterminate on imaging.

Julian A Villalba, Adina Haramati, Michelle Garlin, Fabiola Reyes, Cameron D Wright, Abner Louissaint, Jeanne B Ackman

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Mediastinum (Hong Kong, China), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Julian A VillalbaJames Homer Wright Pathology Laboratories, Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Adina HaramatiDivision of Thoracic Imaging and Intervention, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Michelle GarlinDepartment of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Fabiola ReyesDivision of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Cameron D WrightDivision of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Abner LouissaintJames Homer Wright Pathology Laboratories, Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Jeanne B AckmanDivision of Thoracic Imaging and Intervention, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Brigham and Women's Hospital · USColumbia University Irving Medical Center · USMayo Clinic in Arizona · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The propensity of thymic cysts to mimic solid thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) on computed tomography (CT), on account of attenuation values greater than water and thickened or calcified walls, can lead to non-therapeutic thymectomy. These lesions can fluctuate in volume, CT attenuation, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal over time. We hypothesized that spontaneous hemorrhage and resorption may contribute to their variable appearance over time. Methods: Completely excised thymic cysts were identified retrospectively over a 20-year period by their pathologic diagnosis. Cysts were excluded if they did not have available presurgical imaging, were not prevascular, were located within or contained an enhancing mass by imaging, or were of non-thymic origin upon microscopic review. Histopathological analysis of all available resected thymic cyst material and radiologic analysis of the cysts on pre-operative imaging were performed. Results: Upon application of exclusion criteria, we identified 18 thymic cysts from the initial 85 mediastinal cystic specimens. Most cysts were unilocular (11/15, 73%), showed turbid-to-semisolid, hemorrhagic fluid (10/12, 83%) and showed histopathological findings suggestive of intralesional microbleeding (14/18, 78%), remodeling (8/18, 44%), pathological wound healing/scarring of the capsule (16/18, 89%), and fat necrosis in the surrounding thymic tissue (12/18, 67%). On CT, 6/17 (35%) cysts demonstrated wall calcification. Sixty-five percent (11/17) had attenuation values ≥20 Hounsfield units (HU). Two of the 4 cysts imaged by MRI were T1-isointense, one was mixed hyper- and isointense, and one T1-hypointense to muscle, with iso- and hyperintensity indicating hemorrhagic or proteinaceous content. Twenty-five percent (1/4) of cyst walls imaged by MRI were T1/T2-hypointense, indicating presence of calcification, hemosiderin, and/or fibrosis. Conclusions: Resected thymic cysts in this cohort often showed features suggestive of intralesional microbleeding, inflammation, and fibrosis, which may explain their appearance and behavior over time on CT and MRI.

Indexed as

CT interpretation pitfallshemorrhagenon-therapeutic thymectomyThymic cystthymoma

Identifiers

PMID37261095
PMCPMC10226889
OpenAlexW4328010562

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.