Mediastinal neurilemmoma originating in the right phrenic nerve: a case report]

We report on a 31-year-old man with a mediastinal neurilemmoma originating in the right phrenic nerve. The patient was admitted because of abnormal chest X-ray shadows observed during a routine checkup. A preoperative diagnosis of bronchial cyst in the mediastinum was made. The tumor was resected by video-assisted thoracic surgery. It was 3 x 4 x 3 cm in size, weighted 15 g, and originated in the right phrenic nerve. The histopathologic diagnosis was mediastinal neurilemmoma. Only 14 cases have been reported in the Japanese literature.