Table 2. Literature data on minimally invasive thymectomy for thymoma.
| Author, year | Sample size | Approach | OT | CR | Mortality (%) | Morbidity | Follow-up | Disease recurrence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheng, 2005 | 12 | VATS | 193 | 0% | 0 | NR | 33.9 | 0% |
| 10 | Open | 207 | − | 0 | NR | 33.9 | 0% | |
| Pennathur, 2011 | 18 | VATS | NR | NR | 0 | NR | 27b | 0/18 |
| 22 | Open | NR | − | 0 | NR | 58b | 1/22 | |
| Mussi, 2012 | 14 | Robotic | 139 | 14% | 0 | 14.3% | 14.5 | 0% |
| He, 2013 | 15 | VATS | 202 | 0/15 | 0 | 26.7% | 12−61a | 0% |
| 18 | Open | 141 | − | 0 | 33.3% | 0% | ||
| Liu, 2014 | 76 | VATS | 142 | 1/76 | 0 | NR | 61.9 | 2.6% |
| 44 | Open | 150 | − | 0 | NR | 69.7 | 2.3% | |
| Ye, 2013 | 25 | VATS | 104 | 1/25 | 0 | 1/25 | 25.2 | 0% |
| 21 | Robotic | 96 | 0% | 0 | 1/21 | 17.5 | 0% | |
| Marulli, 2012 | 79 | Robotic | 140b | 8.9% | 0 | 17.1% | 40b | 0.7% |
VATS, video assisted thoracoscopic surgery; Open, transternal approach; OT, operative time expressed as a mean in minutes, unless otherwise stated; CR, conversion rate. Follow-up period is expressed as a mean in months, unless otherwise stated. NR, not reported; a, range; b, median.