Thymomas, benign or malignant, may be associated with autoimmune diseases. They are classically associated with myasthenia gravis, neuromyotonia, or pure red cell aplasia.
We here report, to the best of our knowledge, the first description of an association between thymoma and Reynolds syndrome (systemic sclerosis associated with primary biliary cirrhosis) in an 80-year-old woman.
The suspected pathogenesis of this association could be a thymus escape of auto-reactive T lymphocytes and the consecutive development of an auto-immune disorder.