Case report

Schwannoma of the vagus nerve, a rare middle mediastinal neurogenic tumor: case report

Kyriakos St Rammos¹ , Stylianos K Rammos² , Christophoros N Foroulis¹ and Thomas K Zaramboukas³

¹  Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Aristotle University Medical School, Thessaloniki, Greece

²  Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College at Peoria, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA

³  Laboratory of Pathology, Aristotle University Medical School, Thessaloniki, Greece

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery 2009, 4:68doi:10.1186/1749-8090-4-68

Published:	26 November 2009

Abstract

Schwannoma originating from the vagus nerve within the mediastinum is a rare, usually benign tumor. A 44-year old male was presented with chest pain. Chest radiography, CT scan and MRI showed a well circumscribed mass, 5 × 4 cm located in the aortopulmonary window. The mass was found at surgery to be in close proximity with the aortic arch and the left pulmonary hilum, alongside the left vagus nerve. The encapsulated tumor was completely resected through a left thoracotomy incision and it was found to be a benign schwannoma in pathology. The patient is free of recurrence 6 years after surgery.