Abstract
The objective of this work is to review retrospectively our experience with 17 patients presenting with benign neurogenic tumors, managed in the department of thoracic surgery, Mohamed V Military Academic Hospital, Rabat, Morocco. Between 2003 and 2011, seventeen patients were surgically treated for benign neurogenic tumors of the mediastinum, among 112 mediastinal tumors operated during the same period. The mean age of the 17 patients was 46 years, including 11 females and 6 males. The information about clinical presentation, diagnostic procedures, surgical techniques and postoperative follow-up were extracted and analyzed from medical records. Symptoms related to the tumor were found in 13 patients (76,4%). The posterior mediastinum was the principal location (16 cases: 94%). Intraspinal extension was shown through MRI in one case. Surgical extirpation was complete in all patients. There were no tumor-related deaths and no significant complications. There were 13 schwannomas, 2 neurofibromas and 2 ganglioneuromas. Neurogenic tumors of the mediastinum in adults are mostly benign. Their only treatment is surgical extirpation. Video-assisted thoracoscopic resection is currently the best approach in selected patients.
Highlights
Benign neurogenic tumors are relatively the third most frequent of all mediastinal tumors behind thymomas and probably lymphomas (20% of all primitive tumors of the mediastinum and 75% of the tumors of posterior mediastinum) [1]
112 patients were operated for mediastinal tumors; seventeen had the histological diagnosis of benign neurogenic tumors
The tumor location was the posterior mediastinum in sixteen cases and the middle mediastinum in one case
Summary
Benign neurogenic tumors are relatively the third most frequent of all mediastinal tumors behind thymomas and probably lymphomas (20% of all primitive tumors of the mediastinum and 75% of the tumors of posterior mediastinum) [1]. They are neoplasms arising from all the components of intrathoracic nervous formations. The posterolateral thoracotomy has been the traditional surgical approach, in the aim to carry out the complete resection of these tumors; generally benign. The video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a good alternative for excising such small tumors [4]. The objective of this study was to report our experience in the management of this disease, since its discovery among our patients, until ensuring regular follow-up after surgery, in order to better relate our results
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