Bilateral VATS thymectomy in the treatment of myasthenia gravis

Surgical removal of the thymus is an important tool in the treatment of myasthenia gravis. While there exist a number of different surgical approaches, the optimal thymectomy removes the most amount of thymic tissue in the least invasive manner, allowing for rapid recovery from the procedure and providing the best chance of remission of disease. The purpose of this paper is to review bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy with regard to both relevant anatomy and surgical technique, as well as in comparison to other existing methods of thymectomy in terms of safety, recovery and outcomes. Bilateral video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy appears to have improved recovery time and comparable rates of remission to more invasive approaches, though more high-quality long-term outcomes studies are needed.