RadioGraphics
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

DOI: 10.1148/rg.262045213
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow CME Test (opens in a new window)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nishino, M.
Right arrow Articles by Hatabu, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nishino, M.
Right arrow Articles by Hatabu, H.
Related Collections
Right arrow Chest Radiology
RadioGraphics 2006;26:335-348
© RSNA, 2006

EDUCATION EXHIBIT

The Thymus: A Comprehensive Review1

Mizuki Nishino, MD, Simon K. Ashiku, MD, Olivier N. Kocher, MD, Robert L. Thurer, MD, Phillip M. Boiselle, MD and Hiroto Hatabu, MD, PhD

1 From the Departments of Radiology (M.N., P.M.B., H.H.), Thoracic Surgery (S.K.A., R.L.T.), and Pathology (O.N.K.), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 330 Brookline Ave, Boston, MA 02215. Presented as an education exhibit at the 2004 RSNA Annual Meeting. Received December 22, 2004; revision requested May 9, 2005, and received June 8; accepted September 22. All authors have no financial relationships to disclose. Address correspondence to M.N. (e-mail: mnishino{at}bidmc.harvard.edu).

Since first being described as such by Galen of Pergamum (130–200 AD), the thymus has remained an "organ of mystery" throughout the 2000-year history of medicine. The thymus reaches its maximum weight in puberty and subsequently undergoes involution, and thus is hardly an eye-catching structure on imaging studies performed in healthy adults. However, once there has been involvement of the thymus by a disease process, the gland demonstrates a variety of clinical and radiologic manifestations that require comprehensive understanding of each entity. Furthermore, it is important for radiologists to be familiar with the current World Health Organization histologic classification scheme for thymic epithelial tumors and to understand its clinical-pathologic, radiologic, and prognostic features.

© RSNA, 2006






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
RADIOGRAPHICS RADIOLOGY RSNA JOURNALS ONLINE
Copyright © 2006 by the Radiological Society of North America.