Schwannome médiastinal bénin du nerf vague : stratégies diagnostique et thérapeutique

Hepatic Schwannoma on 18F-FDG PET/CT

Schwannoma is a slow-growing benign tumor, which originates from Schwann cells and is usually asymptomatic. The most common sites of schwannomas are the head, neck, and extremities. However, a schwannoma located in the liver is extremely rare. Here, we report a 53-year-old woman with a hepatic lesion accidentally found by ultrasound. It was highly suggestive of hepatic cholangiocarcinoma by MRI. F-FDG PET/CT could not exclude hepatic malignant tumor due to its high metabolism. Finally, it was confirmed as hepatic schwannoma by postoperative pathology.

Clinical efficacy of robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for posterior mediastinal neurogenic tumors

Background

Robot-assisted thoracic surgery (RATS) has an increasing usage throughout the world. This retrospective cohort study aimed to objectively compare the surgical results between video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) and RATS in posterior mediastinal neurogenic tumors (PMNT).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of 130 patients diagnosed with posterior mediastinal neurogenic tumor between 2015 and 2018. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or enhanced computed tomography scan (CT-scan) was used to locate the tumor and investigate the Adamkiewicz’s artery preoperatively. The individual surgical approach was determined by both tumor size and patient’s willings.

Results

The surgical time in RATS (43.2±12.6 min) was tended to be less than that in VATS (47.4±11.9 min) (P=0.054). Meanwhile, the estimated blood loss in RATS group (85.8±22.6 mL) was significantly less than that in VATS group (95.3±28.4 mL) (P=0.040). However, the duration of chest tube (days) and volume of drainage (mL) had no significant difference between two groups (P=0.12 and P=0.68, respectively). The postoperative hospital stay (days) of patients in RATS group (2.2±0.4 days) was significantly shorter than that in VATS group (2.4±0.6 days) (P=0.031). There were no significant differences between two groups in the incidence of the postoperative complications and adverse reactions.

Conclusions

RATS has the superiorities in terms of surgical blood loss and postoperative hospital stay over VATS for posterior mediastinal neurogenic tumor. In conclusion, RATS could be a feasible and safe way for resecting posterior mediastinal neurogenic tumor.

False Positive 18F-FDG Positron Emission Tomography Findings in Schwannoma-A Caution for Reporting Physicians

Schwannoma is a rare source of false-positive 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) uptake in Positron-emission tomography (PET/CT), inducing potential errors in staging of several solid cancer, with implications for patient management. This clinical case reports the situation of a patient undergoing an 18F-FDG-PET/CT for initial staging of an ovarian adenocarcinoma. We found a high paramediastinal hypermetabolic mass suspicious of remote extension or secondary synchronous primitive tumor. The biopsy finally reveals a histopathology of Schwannoma, allowing the patient to be eligible for a surgical procedure of her ovarian adenocarcinoma by rejecting the hypothesis of malignancy.

Vagus nerve schwannoma in the right upper mediastinum

A 35‐year‐old woman was admitted to our hospital with an abnormal shadow on her chest roentgenogram. Computed tomography showed that a tumor was located in the right upper mediastinum. Resection of the tumor by video‐assisted thoracoscopic surgery was performed. Operative findings determined that the tumor originated from the right vagus nerve and was diagnosed as schwannoma by pathological examination.