Symptoms of a thymoma
Most patients are asymptomatic, although 33% may be symptomatic because of compression or invasion of adjacent structures. Of patients, 50% may have a paraneoplastic syndrome, such as myasthenia gravis, hypogammaglobulinemia, or pure red blood cell aplasia. About 30% to 50% of patients with a thymoma may develop myasthenia gravis, whereas 15% of patients with myasthenia gravis have a thymoma. Ten percent of patients with a thymoma may develop hypogammaglobulinemia, whereas 5% of patients with hypogammaglobulinemia have a thymoma. Five percent of patients with a thymoma may develop red blood cell aplasia, whereas 50% of patients with red blood cell aplasia have a thymoma.
