TY - JOUR
T1 - Dermatomyositis as first clinical appearance for a thymic epidermoid cell carcinoma
AU - Iacovelli, Roberto
AU - Palazzo, Antonella
AU - Conte, Davide
AU - Fabbri, Maria Agnese
AU - Vitolo, Domenico
AU - Cortesi, Enrico
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Primary thymic carcinoma is a rare and heterogeneous group of tumours of the anterior mediastinum that includes different histological types. Frequently, it first comes to clinical attention through paraneoplastic syndromes such as dermatomyositis. We report the case of a 54-year-old woman with several episodes of fever and chest pain in the previous 5 months. The patient was admitted to the Rheumatology Department with a peri-ungual erythema and papular lesions on both sides of each hand and alteration at biochemistry tests. A left deltoid muscle biopsy specimen showed a histological pattern compatible with the diagnosis of dermatomyositis. A computed tomography of the chest, abdomen and pelvis, showed a solid mass in the upper anterior mediastinal area and a mediastinoscopy with mass-biopsy was performed. Only the immunohistochemical staining technique allowed a definitive histological diagnosis. We report the diagnostic challenge and the therapeutic approach of thymic neoplasia. (www.actabiomedica.it).
AB - Primary thymic carcinoma is a rare and heterogeneous group of tumours of the anterior mediastinum that includes different histological types. Frequently, it first comes to clinical attention through paraneoplastic syndromes such as dermatomyositis. We report the case of a 54-year-old woman with several episodes of fever and chest pain in the previous 5 months. The patient was admitted to the Rheumatology Department with a peri-ungual erythema and papular lesions on both sides of each hand and alteration at biochemistry tests. A left deltoid muscle biopsy specimen showed a histological pattern compatible with the diagnosis of dermatomyositis. A computed tomography of the chest, abdomen and pelvis, showed a solid mass in the upper anterior mediastinal area and a mediastinoscopy with mass-biopsy was performed. Only the immunohistochemical staining technique allowed a definitive histological diagnosis. We report the diagnostic challenge and the therapeutic approach of thymic neoplasia. (www.actabiomedica.it).
KW - Dermatomyositis
KW - Paraneoplastic syndrome
KW - Thymic carcinoma
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M3 - Article
C2 - 20857855
AN - SCOPUS:77957015621
VL - 81
SP - 68
EP - 71
JO - Acta Biomedica de l'Ateneo Parmense
JF - Acta Biomedica de l'Ateneo Parmense
SN - 0392-4203
IS - 1
ER -