title: Cervical sympathetic schwannoma: report of two cases and review of the literature.
abstract: This study describes two cases of cervical sympathetic schwannoma operated at department of vascular surgery and review the literature to clarify the demographic, diagnostic, and therapeutic features of these rare lesions for the first time. Two 32- and 59-year-old ladies both presenting with a painless cervical mass were referred to our service with the initial diagnosis of carotid body tumor. At the operation, mobile masses which could be easily dissected from the surrounding arteries and veins, except for the cervical sympathetic trunk were observed. Micro-surgical techniques helped us with removing the lesions with saving the sympathetic trunk in both cases. No permanent deficits were observed post-operatively in patients. Angiographic studies can provide the only pre-operative clues to diagnose a sympathetic schwannoma. Total removal of the lesion at the expense of sacrificing the sympathetic nerve is associated with minimal neurologic deficits which are well tolerated by the patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jondi-Shapour University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. iraj.nazari@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Iraj
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nazari
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jondi-Shapour University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. sanazesfehani@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Maryam H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Esfehani
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. m_noori@razi.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nouri
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. arnaeemi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ahmad R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Naeemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. jsalimi@sina.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salimi
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mrzafar@sina.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mohammad R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Zafarghandi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010524:Peripheral Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D017783:Superior Cervical Ganglion; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed