Thymic carcinoid--a case report and review of the literature.

We report herein a case of a patient with thymic carcinoid who was operated on twice and has been followed for 9 years. In 1979, the original tumor was removed through an emergency left thoracotomy incision done for a hemothorax caused by an anterior mediastinal biopsy. Tumor recurrence was found 6 years later and removal carried out through a median sternotomy. The patient has been working and enjoying life following radiation and chemotherapy for a total of 9 years after his first operation. Recurrent thymic carcinoid has been thought to carry a poor prognosis, but this successfully treated case has been followed up for a long time after the removal of his recurrent tumor. We present this case and discuss other such cases reported in the Japanese literature.