title: Ancient schwannoma mimicking a thyroid mass with retrosternal extension.
abstract: We report the case of a middle-aged hypothyroid woman presenting with a neck swelling, voice change and breathing difficulty. On evaluation, she was diagnosed to have goitre with retrosternal extension. The mass was surgically excised and a histopathological report of ancient schwannoma was obtained. A review of literature on schwannomas of the head and neck was carried out. An ancient schwannoma should be considered as one of the differential diagnosis of a cervical mass, even though the clinical presentation point towards a thyroid swelling. At 6 months follow-up, the patient was found to be asymptomatic except for a hoarse voice.
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Ashish Chandra
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.forename: Dipak Ranjan
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Nayak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006045:Goiter, Substernal / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012009:Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve