title: Video thoracoscopic resection of neurogenic tumor in a superior-posterior mediastinum: three case reports.
abstract: Neurogenic tumors of the thorax can originate in any neurogenic structure within the chest. Surgical resection is considered the primary treatment of such tumors and usually is performed through a thoracotomy. Recently, using a new approach, we applied the technique of video thoracoscopic surgery to resection a posterior mediastinal tumor. In this paper, we report three patients with superior-posterior mediastinal neurogenic tumors in which the approach to the tumor is technically difficult. Cases 1 and 2 were a 26-year-old man and a 50-year-old asymptomatic man, respectively, and case 3 was a 45-year-old asymptomatic woman. The sizes of the three tumors were 3.0 x 2.5 x 1.8 cm (case 1), 6.0 x 4.0 x 2.0 cm (case 2), and 3.0 x 2.0 x 2.0 cm (case 3). In one case (case 2), minithoracotomy was added to video thoracoscopic surgery for adhesion to the spinal artery and intraspinal extension. A standard thoracotomy was avoided in all three cases. All patients had uncomplicated postoperative courses. Video thoracoscopic resection of a neurogenic tumor in the superior-posterior mediastinum may be a safe and useful approach with improved cosmetic results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imaizumi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murase
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asaoka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000601:surgery*; D013906:Thoracoscopy; D014741:Video Recording