[A case of mediastinal neurilemmoma originating from the intrathoracic vagal nerve]

Abstract

A case of neurilemmoma originating from the intrathoracic vagal nerve was reported. An asymptomatic 51-year-old man was admitted because of a mass shadow on chest roentgenograms. Under the possible diagnosis of benign bronchogenic cyst, right thoracotomy was carried out. An encapsulated solid tumor originating from the right vagal nerve was found in the site distal to the branching point of recurrent nerve. The tumor was removed by transection of the vagal nerve. Postoperative clinical course was uneventful except the transient sinus tachycardia. The pathological diagnosis was neurilemmoma. Mediastinal neurilemmoma originating from the vagal nerve is rare. To our knowledge, only 29 cases are reported in the Japanese literatures.