Dermatologic disorders in patients with thymoma

Abstract

We describe the cutaneous disorders in 172 patients with thymoma. Myasthenia gravis was the most common additional disease. Cutaneous disorders were found in 34 patients; 19 had skin disorders at the time of diagnosis of thymoma and 15 developed skin disorders after diagnosis of thymoma. Cutaneous fungal diseases were found in fewer than 10% of the patients (tinea pedis excluded). One patient with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis was included in this group. Two patients with lichen planus, 2 with pemphigus, 2 with myositis, and 1 with lupus-like disease were also included in this study. Patients with skin disorders were no different than patients without these disorders with regard to thymoma histology, age at diagnosis, sex, or presence of myasthenia gravis. There were no associations between these variables and the patients who developed these skin disorders after diagnosis of thymoma. Thymectomy did not alter the clinical course with respect to cutaneous diseases.