[Granulomatous tumors of a pseudo-Hodgkin type of the thymus gland (thymus gland lymphogranulosarcomas)].

The group of thymic lymphogranulosarcomas are losing their pathologic individuality as autonomous thymic tumors with particular histological and special evolutive characters. Experience shows that a good number of alleged "pseudo-hodgkinian thymomas" have evoluted in the hodgkinian mode. From a total of 56 apparently autonomous thymic tumors operated on in the Department of Surgery A at this hospital, 9 thymic lymphogranulosarcomas have been identified. Our observations confirm that "pseudo-hodgkinian" tumors of the thymic lodge are rather Hodgkin's disease or a primitive-ganglion Hodgkin's disease localized in the thymic lodge. In practice, the discovery of granulomatous tissue in a thymic lodge tumor, even in the absence of typical Sternberg cells, requires a search for other localizations to determine the evolutive stage of the disease. Experience shows that partial or total surgical excision, followed by combined chemotherapy, exploratory laparotomy and radiotherapy, offer the best chances of long term survival at present.