Thymic hyperplasia presenting with respiratory distress in a male newborn: A case report

Background: Although thymic enlargement is a common and physiological finding of neonates and infants, symptomatic hyperplasia is a very rare condition. Case presentation: We report a 21-hour male neonate who presented with fast and noisy breathing and failure to suck for 12 hours duration. He had signs of respiratory distress and was initially started on treatment for early-onset sepsis without any improvement. Later imaging showed a thymic enlargement which was then successfully treated with steroids. Conclusion: Symptomatic thymic hyperplasia is an uncommon condition in the neonatal period. Steroids can be effective in the treatment of thymic hyperplasia help shrink the enlarged thymus and avoid unnecessary surgery.