title: Management of intrathoracic benign schwannomas of the brachial plexus.
abstract: Primary tumours of the brachial plexus are rare entities. They usually present as extrathoracic masses located in the supraclavicular region. This report describes two cases of benign schwannomas arising from the brachial plexus with an intrathoracic growth. In the first case the tumour was completely intrathoracic and it was hardly removed through a standard posterolateral thoracotomy. In the second case the tumour presented as a cervicomediastinal lesion and it was resected through a one-stage combined supraclavicular incision followed by left video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. A brachial plexus tumour should be suspected not only in patients with a supraclavicular or cervicomediastinal mass but also in those with intrathoracic apical lesions. A preoperative magnetic resonance imaging study of brachial plexus should be performed in such cases in order to plan the correct surgical approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1962-0045
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bandiera
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giampiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Negri
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Melloni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1863-8750
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mandelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2374-194X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gerevini
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carretta
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ciriaco
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Puglisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Via Olgettina 60, 20132 Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zannini