Robotic resection of anterior mediastinal masses >10 cm: a case series

BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) for intrathoracic pathology and especially for mediastinal mass resection has been increasingly accepted as an alternative method to open sternotomy and video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). However, the utilization of this approach for complex and advanced in size cases needs more clinical evidence. We are presenting a series of 4 patients who had resection of >10 cm mediastinal masses via RATS. CASES DESCRIPTION: The mean age was 76.25±10.3 years and 3 were males (75%). All masses were positron emission tomography (PET) positive, and 1 patient had positive Acetyl-cholinesterase antibodies and myasthenia gravis (MG). All patients underwent RATS resection via DaVinci(®) X system. The dissections were conducted with spatula and/or Maryland bipolar forceps. In 2 cases, the resection was done with bilateral docking, and in 1 case, a drain was not inserted at the end. In 1 patient, pericardial resection was necessitated. All masses were thymomas with 1 dimension measured >10 cm on pathology. All patients were discharged on day 1 or 2 postoperatively with uneventful recoveries. There was no in-hospital, 30- or 90-day mortality. All patients were found to be without issues on follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: This report shows that RATS is safe and can be offered in the management of >10 cm anterior mediastinal masses. The previous size limit of the tumor for minimally invasive and especially RATS approach of 5 cm should be challenged.