[Treatment of thymic diseases by bilateral video thoracoscopes].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the therapeutic efficacy of thymic diseases by bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopes. METHODS: A total of 46 cases with thymic diseases, including benign or malignant thymoma and myasthenia gravis (MG), were operated by bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopes. It was compared with 33 cases undergoing traditional thymic operations. RESULTS: The resection rate was 100%. There was no perioperative mortality. All cases were followed up for 3 years. The 1, 3-year survival rates were 95.7% (44/46) and 91.3% (42/46) versus 93.9% (31/33) and 90.9% (30/33) for a traditional thymic operation respectively. And the difference was insignificant (P > 0.05). The effective remission rate of MG was 91.7% (11/12) versus 92.9% (13/14) for a traditional thymic operation. And the difference was insignificant (chi(2) = 0.17, P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The treatment of thymic diseases by bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopes can achieve a comparable clinical efficacy of employing a traditional thymic operation. But it is superior in terms of surgical trauma and postoperative recovery.