Prominent Thymus

Etiology: Normal variant of increased size and weight of thymus with preservation of normal microscopic features
Imaging CXR: Enlarged lobes of thymus
Imaging US: Normal thymus can be confirmed which shows characteristic starry sky or dot-dash appearance of thymus
DDX: Anterior mediastinal tumor
— Thymus is soft and is displaced by surrounding structures
— Anterior mediastinal tumor is hard and displaces surrounding structures
Complications:
Treatment:
Clinical:

Radiology Cases of Prominent Thymus

CXR of a prominent thymus — CXR AP+lateral shows an anterior mediastinal mass without a thymic wave or thymic sail sign that was confirmed on US to be normal thymic tissue.

CXR and CT of prominent thymus — CXR AP (above) shows an abnormal soft tissue density to the left of the spine in the left suprahilar region. Axial CT with contrast of the chest (below) shows in the anterior mediastinum an enlarged thymus which is homogenous in appearance and without any focal lesions.

CT of a prominent thymus gland — Axial CT without contrast of the chest shows a prominent thymus gland.