Published in:
Open Access
01-12-2015 | Case report
Ataxia induced by a thymic neuroblastoma in the elderly patient
Authors:
Ory Wiesel, Shamik Bhattacharyya, Henrikas Vaitkevicius, Sashank Prasad, Ciaran McNamee
Published in:
World Journal of Surgical Oncology
|
Issue 1/2015
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Abstract
Thymic neuroblastoma is a rare tumor with only few reports in modern literature. Whereas most data is taken from childhood neuroblastoma, little is known about the characteristics of the disease in the adult and elderly population.
There are significant differences between adult and childhood neuroblastoma which are reviewed below.
We report a case of a 62-year-old male who presented with neurological symptoms of ataxia and opsoclonus and an anterior mediastinal mass. Ultimately, the patient underwent a resection of the mass and pathologic review identified a thymic neuroblastoma. This is the first case of thymic neuroblastoma associated with symptomatic central nervous system disease; it is presented with an up-to-date review of the previous cases in the field as well with a review of the literature of post adolescent neuroblastoma.