Acta clinica Croatica, Vol. 65. No. 2, 2026.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2026.65.02.12
Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Thymectomy: A Single-Center Study
Željko Djaković
orcid.org/0000-0002-7840-7519
; Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
*
Vedran Cesarec
; Department of Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
As a part of the multimodal treatment of myasthenia gravis patients, thymectomy
is an established method with positive effects in some patients. The
traditional surgical approach, sternotomy, was modified over the years from
total to partial sternotomy, but despite this offers a suboptimal aesthetic result
with a scar in the decolletage region in mostly female patients. At the Jordanovac
Department of Thoracic Surgery, a minimally invasive video-assisted
method has been performed since 2016 in the treatment of patients with myasthenia
gravis who, in collaboration with a neurologist, are estimated to be
able to benefit from thymectomy.
We present the results of a new method at the Jordanovac Department of
Thoracic Surgery in the multimodal treatment of patients with myasthenia gravis.
In the first 4 years, we operated on 50 patients with extremely low perioperative
complications, short hospitalization time, and low need for postoperative
analgesic therapy.
In the first year, we operated on 14 patients. Access was generally right-sided
through three or four thoracic ports. In case of suspected thymoma, access
depended on tumor localization. In the second year, we operated on 8 patients,
in the third 9, and in the fourth 19 patients. The thoracic drainage was
removed on the 1st post-operative day in all patients. Hospitalization duration
was 2–4 days.
Video assisted thymectomy is the standard in the treatment of patients with
myasthenia gravis and patients with thymoma up to 5 cm in diameter. The outcomes
significantly outperform those of a sternotomy and maintain equivalent
oncological efficacy.
Keywords
VATS thymectomy; Myasthenia gravis; Minimally invasive surgery
Hrčak ID:
347736
URI
Publication date:
10.6.2026.
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