An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic Hemothorax
Schwannomas of the thoracic cavity are typically an asymptomatic, benign neurogenic neoplasm of the posterior mediastinum. In this case, we present a traumatic hemothorax as the initial presentation for a previously undiscovered mediastinal mass. The patient presented with shortness of breath and ri...
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Wiley
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Case Reports in Surgery |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/175645 |
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| author | Ruchi Amin Brett H. Waibel |
| author_facet | Ruchi Amin Brett H. Waibel |
| author_sort | Ruchi Amin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Schwannomas of the thoracic cavity are typically an asymptomatic, benign neurogenic neoplasm of the posterior mediastinum. In this case, we present a traumatic hemothorax as the initial presentation for a previously undiscovered mediastinal mass. The patient presented with shortness of breath and right-sided chest pain after being struck in the chest with a soccer ball. An operative exploration was pursued due to persistent hemothorax with hemodynamic instability despite resuscitation and adequate thoracostomy tube placement. The intraoperative etiology of bleeding was discovered to be traumatic fracture of a large hypervascular posterior mediastinal schwannoma. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice for these tumors. Specific serological markers do not exist for this tumor, and radiographic findings can be variable, so tissue diagnosis is of importance in differentiating benign from malignant schwannomas, as well as other posterior mediastinal tumors. However, most patients have excellent survival following complete resection. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6ebb15f531f144408864c1d3223f8ad0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2090-6900 2090-6919 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Case Reports in Surgery |
| spelling | doaj-art-6ebb15f531f144408864c1d3223f8ad02025-02-03T01:03:22ZengWileyCase Reports in Surgery2090-69002090-69192015-01-01201510.1155/2015/175645175645An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic HemothoraxRuchi Amin0Brett H. Waibel1Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USADepartment of Surgery, Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USASchwannomas of the thoracic cavity are typically an asymptomatic, benign neurogenic neoplasm of the posterior mediastinum. In this case, we present a traumatic hemothorax as the initial presentation for a previously undiscovered mediastinal mass. The patient presented with shortness of breath and right-sided chest pain after being struck in the chest with a soccer ball. An operative exploration was pursued due to persistent hemothorax with hemodynamic instability despite resuscitation and adequate thoracostomy tube placement. The intraoperative etiology of bleeding was discovered to be traumatic fracture of a large hypervascular posterior mediastinal schwannoma. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice for these tumors. Specific serological markers do not exist for this tumor, and radiographic findings can be variable, so tissue diagnosis is of importance in differentiating benign from malignant schwannomas, as well as other posterior mediastinal tumors. However, most patients have excellent survival following complete resection.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/175645 |
| spellingShingle | Ruchi Amin Brett H. Waibel An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic Hemothorax Case Reports in Surgery |
| title | An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic Hemothorax |
| title_full | An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic Hemothorax |
| title_fullStr | An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic Hemothorax |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic Hemothorax |
| title_short | An Unusual Presentation of a Posterior Mediastinal Schwannoma Associated with Traumatic Hemothorax |
| title_sort | unusual presentation of a posterior mediastinal schwannoma associated with traumatic hemothorax |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/175645 |
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