Linde L M, Marcus B, Padua E
University of Southern California School of Medicine, Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.
Pediatrics. 1991 Aug;88(2):328-31.
Normal enlargement of the thymus in infancy can often lead to erroneous clinical suspicion of cardiomegaly. Roentgenographic differentiation is not always definitive but echocardiography is generally effective in differentiating cardiac pathology from an enlarged thymus. In this patient, magnetic resonance imaging was necessary to differentiate benign thymic hyperplasia from pericardial or mediastinal pathology. Thymic involution with a severe neonatal illness, followed by thymic rebound, which later subsided, added to the interest and initial confusion in this patient.
婴儿期胸腺的正常增大常常会导致临床上对心脏扩大产生错误的怀疑。X线检查鉴别并不总是明确的，但超声心动图通常能有效区分心脏病变和增大的胸腺。在该患者中，需要磁共振成像来区分良性胸腺增生与心包或纵隔病变。严重新生儿疾病导致胸腺退化，随后出现胸腺反弹，之后反弹消退，这增加了该病例的复杂性和最初的诊断困惑。
