胸腺上皮肿瘤(thymic epithelial tumor,TET)包括胸腺瘤及胸腺癌,是一组生物学及形态学表现多样化的肿瘤性疾病,其临床过程和预后差别较大,生物学特性从惰性的非侵袭性到高侵袭性,甚至发生转移。CT是目前检查胸腺上皮肿瘤最常用的影像学方法,其CT表现是术前临床分期及组织学分型预测的主要依据.术前CT表现有助于胸腺上皮肿瘤WHO各亚型的诊断及预后评价。
Thymic epithelial tumors including thymomas and thymic carcinomas have well-known heterogeneous oncologic behaviors and variable histologic features. They show variable and unpredictable evolutions ranging from an indolent non-invasive feature to a highly infiltrative and metastasising one. Currently, CT is a common and efficient imaging method for assessing thymic epithelial tumors. CT evaluation is the main reference for preoperative clinic staging and histological classification. CT features of subtypes of thymic epithelial tumors on the basis of the World Health Organization classification provide the foundation for the diagnosis and predicting prognosis.