Synonyms
Neurilemmoma
Definition
Mediastinal schwannoma is a benign, slow-growing lesion arising from Schwann cells of the spinal nerves. It can also involve any thoracic nerve. Histologically, it is characterized by the presence of a highly organized cellular component (Antoni A) and a loosely myxoid component (Antoni B). A small percentage of patients experience paresthesia or pain due to tumor compression or intraspinal tumor extension.
Clinical Features
Incidence
Schwannoma is the most common neurogenic neoplasm in the mediastinum. Approximately 20% of all adult and 35% of all pediatric mediastinal neoplasms are neurogenic tumors, which include schwannoma, neurofibroma, neuroblastoma, ganglioneuroblastoma, ganglioneuroma, paraganglioma, etc. Approximately 90% of neurogenic tumors are located in the posterior mediastinum. They make up 75% of primary posterior mediastinal neoplasms.
Age
Mediastinal schwannomas most commonly occur in patients ranging in age from 21 to 40 years old. In...
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Miettinen, M. (2010). Modern soft tissue pathology: Tumors and non-neoplastic conditions. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Reed, J. C., Hallet, K. K., & Feigin, D. S. (1978). Neural tumors of the thorax: Subject review from the AFIP. Radiology, 126(1), 9–17.
Strollo, D. C., Rosado-de-Christenson, M. L., & Jett, J. R. (1997). Primary mediastinal tumors: Part II. Tumors of the middle and posterior mediastinum. Chest, 112(5), 1344–1357.
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Chen, S., Badve, S. (2018). Schwannoma, Mediastinal. In: Allen, T.C., Suster, S. (eds) Pathology of the Pleura and Mediastinum. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66796-6_48
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66796-6_48
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