Bilateral cervicomediastinal neurofibroma originating from the vagal nerve in a patient with von Recklinghausen's disease: report of a case

A 19-year-old woman with von Recklinghausen's disease was admitted with symptoms of hoarseness. A computed tomography scan showed a bilateral cervicomediastinal tumor. An extirpation of the left cervicomediastinal tumor was performed for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment. On thoracotomy, the tumor, which measured 9 × 8 × 4 cm in size, arose from the intrathoracic vagal nerve and the left tumor was resected with a segment of the vagal nerve and recurrent nerve. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was a neurofibroma. The tumor on the right side was left untreated due to concerns about possibly causing palsy of the bilateral recurrent nerve and also because of the asymptomatic state of the right tumor. Mediastinal neuofibroma in a patient with von Recklinghausen's disease often arises from the intrathoracic vagal nerve. To our knowledge, this is the first report of bilateral cervicomediastinal neurofibroma originating from the vagal nerves. Received: November 15, 2001 / Accepted: May 7, 2002 Reprint requests to: M. Ohta