Benign thymoma and selective erythroid aplasia of the bone marrow

Abstract

HE ASSOCIATION of anerythroid anemia and T benign thymoma has recently emerged as a clinical and pathological entity.The recognition of this association is of particular interest because of the occasional complete remissions of the anemia after thymectomy.This therapeutic possibility is obviously important in the management of an individual patient, but, in addition, it implies a causal relationship between the thymoma and this obscure form of anemia.During 1957, 2 patients at Memorial Center for Cancer and Allied Diseases, New York, N.Y., were found to have this syndrome.It is the purpose of this paper to report our observations on these 2 patients and to explore the interrelationships between this rare type of anemia and thymic tumors.An attempt has been made to establish the incidence of selective erythroid aplasia among patients with thymomas and, conversely, the incidence of thymomas among patients with this type of anemia.The effects of thymectomy on the hematological abnormality have been evaluated.In addition, an attempt has been made to reproduce the erythroid hypoplasia in laboratory animals. CASE REPORT~Case 1. T.H., a 58-year-old white man, was found to have a mediastinal mass when he had'a routine chest roentgenogram in 1939 at the age of 40.He received no treatment but remained well until 1946, when he gradually developed signs of superior vena caval com-