[Features of the surgical anatomy of the thymus gland in myasthenia patients].

The surgical anatomy of the thymus was studied intraoperatively in 220 myasthenia patients without tumors during extended thymectomy. An atypical disposition of the whole thymus (Ist variant) or its upper pole only (IInd and IIIrd variants) behind the left brachio -cephalic vein was noted in 8% of cases; mediastinal localization of the thymus (IVth variant) in 13,6% of observations; cervical localization (Vth variant) in 6,9%. Only the right lobe of the thymus ( VIth variant) or only the left lobe (VIIth variant) were found in 4,5% of observations. The technique of extended thymectomy with most frequent variants of the surgical anatomy of the thymus in patients with myasthenia is described.