Thymoma followed by paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria: a unique clinical association in the context of multiorgan autoimmunity with a potential role for CD8+ T lymphocytes

Abstract

Seven years after a surgically resected thymoma, a female patient affected by myasthenia gravis and Good's syndrome presented with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). Co-culture experiments and spectratyping analyses indicated that CD8+ lymphocytes were involved in damaging hematopoietic precursors. While PNH clones have been identified in various hematological disorders, the sequential association of thymoma and PNH has been unreported so far.