Table 1. Summary of retrospective studies reporting the rate of ETT in patients with myasthenia gravis.
| Author [year] | Country | Surgical approach | Total No. | No. with thymoma [%] | No. with ETT [%] | Common location (rate) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masaoka [1975] (9) | Japan | NA | 18 | NA | 13 [72] | NA |
| Jaretzki [1988] (23) | USA | Transcervical-transsternal ThX | 50 | NA | 49 [98] | NA |
| Ashour [1995] (24) | Saudi Arabia | Transcervical-transsternal ThX | 38 | 0 [0] | 15 [40] | Left retrothyroid lobe 4 (11%); below thyroid isthmus 3 (8%); adjacent to left thyroid lobe 3 (8%); right cardiophrenic angle 2 (5%); left cardiophrenic angle 2 (5%); retroinnominate vein 2 (5%); pretracheal tissue 1 (3%); Left carotid sheath 1 (3%); aortopulmonary window 1 (3%) |
| Mineo [2000] (25) | Belgium | Left-sided VATS | 31 | 4 [13] | 10 [32] | Anterior mediastinal fat 5 (16%); aortopulmonary window 3 (10%); pretracheal fat 2 (6%); cardiophrenic fat 2 (6%) |
| Ozdemir [2002] (26) | Turkey | Median sternotomy | 61 | 15 [25] | 17 [28] | NA |
| Essa [2003] (27) | Saudi Arabia | Transcervical-transsternal ThX | 30 | 0 [0] | 10 [33] | NA |
| El-Medany [2003] (28) | Saudi Arabia | Transcervical-transsternal ThX | 100 | 7 [7] | 27 [27] | NA |
| Zielinski [2004] (29) | Poland | Transcervical-subxiphoid-VATS | 100 | 0 [0] | 71 [71] | Perithymic fat 37 (37%); aorta-pulmonary window 33 (33%); cervical 10 (10%); left pericardiophrenic fat 7 (7%); right pericardiophrenic fat 7 (7%); aorta-caval groove 4 (4%) |
| Zielinski [2004] (30) | Poland | Median sternotomy | 58 | 0 [0] | 33 [57] | Aortopulmonary window 15 (26%); right pericardiophrenic fat 14 (24%); left pericardiophrenic fat 13 (22%); perithymic fat 13 (22%); aorta-caval groove 10 (17%); cervical 7 (12%) |
| Rea [2006] (31) | Italy | Left-sided RATS | 33 | 2 [6] | 12 [36] | NA |
| Ponseti [2008] (32) | Spain | Median sternotomy | 83 | 0 [0] | 35 [42] | Pericardial fat 31 (37%); lateral to left phrenic nerve 26 (31%); aortopulmonary window 16 (19%); lateral to right phrenic nerve 7 (8%); pretracheal infrathyroid fat 4 (5%) |
| Lee [2008] (33) | Korea | Median sternotomy | 14 | NA | 7 [50] | Cervical area 7 (50%); aortopulmonary window 2 (14%); left brachiocephalic vein 1 (7%); lateral of the right phrenic nerve 1 (7%) |
| Meacci [2009] (34) | Italy | Median sternotomy | 180 | 0 [0] | 122 [68] | Perithymic fat 81 (45%) |
| Pompeo [2009] (35) | Italy | Unilateral VATS and cervicotomy | 32 | 0 [0] | 18 [56] | Anterior mediastinum fat 10 (31%); pretracheal fat 4 (13%); aortopulmonary window 3 (9%); pericardiophrenic angles 3 (9%) |
| Tomulescu [2011] (36) | Romania | Unilateral VATS | 240 | 0 [0] | 147 [61] | Anterior mediastinal perithymic fat 80 (33%); left cardiophrenic sinus 34 (14%); right cardiophrenic sinus 24 (10%); aortopulmonary window 9 (4%) |
| Ambrogi [2012] (37) | Italy | Median sternotomy | 106 | 0 [0] | 51 [48] | Anterior mediastinum 36 (34%); cervical region 20 (19%); aortopulmonary window 10 (9%); left pericardiophrenic angle 7 (7%); right pericardiophrenic angle 5 (5%); retroinnominate space 3 (3%) |
| Chen [2014] (38) | China | Right-sided VATS/median sternotomy | 127 (54/73) | 0 [0] | 45 [35] | NA |
| Marulli [2013] (39) | Italy | Left-sided RATS | 100 | 8 [8] | 26 [26] | NA |
ThX, thymectomy; ETT, ectopic thymic tissue; NA, not available; VATS, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery; RATS, robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery