[Clinical examination of thymic abnormalities and thymectomy in patients with ulcerative colitis].

Results and significance of thymectomy in 66 patients with ulcerative colitis were studied. The thymus delineated by means of pneumomediastinography was almost always successfully removed by our procedure of thymectomy via the transverse incision in the suprasternal notch, frequently combined with dissection by the mediastinoscope through the parasternal incision. Sixty-six thymectomized patients with ulcerative colitis consisted of 29 females and 37 males, ranging in age from 13 to 62 years. In the resected thymuses, lymphoid follicle formations, which are often encountered in high incidence in the thymus obtained from other autoimmune diseases, were found in over 40% of cases. Follow-up observations, ranging from 1 year to 12 years after thymectomy, revealed 84% inactive condition (counted by patient month) compared with that of these same patients before operation.