title: A large schwannoma of the middle mediastinum: A case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Schwannoma of the mediastinum is a rare and typically benign type of tumor. The present study describes the case of a 61-year-old woman who presented with a continuous cough and facial edema. Pre-operative chest radiography, enhanced computed tomography (CT) and three-dimensional CT scans identified a well-circumscribed mass. The large cyst, measuring 6.5×6.1×5.0 cm, was located anterior to the trachea and posterior to the superior vena cava. The mass was observed to be in close proximity to the right pulmonary hilum and the superior vena cava was flattened due to the pressure on the right vagus nerve. Therefore, the encapsulated tumor was completely resected under thoracoscopy and was subsequently diagnosed as a benign schwannoma upon pathological examination. The respiratory tract symptoms and facial edema resolved immediately after the surgery, and no recurrence was observed during the 6-month follow-up period. At the time of writing, the patient remained alive. The present study records the rarely successful resection of a middle mediastinal tumor by video-assisted thoracoscopy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hong Xi
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, P.R. China.
authors.forename: You-Bin
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Cui
keywords: middle mediastinum; neurogenic tumor; schwannoma; thoracoscopy