Background: A schwannoma is a tumor of the peripheral nerve sheath. They are the most common benign tumor; presenting at any age, and at any site of the body and also one of the most common posterior mediastinal tumors. Posterior mediastinal schwannoma is usually identified incidentally in chest radiographs and with follow-up imaging such as CT scan. Large posterior mediastinal schwannoma usually presents with local symptoms. To confirm diagnosis and obtain local control, surgical excision is the usual approach. Case Description: Here, we present a case of a 56-year-old female who presented with chronic low back pain. The lesion was picked up on an ultrasound scan to look at her kidneys. She was not experiencing any neurological symptoms. Excision of the tumor was made through a right thoracoabdominal approach. A WHO Grade 1 tumor was diagnosed on histology. There were no signs of recurrence in the follow-up scans. Conclusion: Giant posterior mediastinal schwanommas are very rare with only one other reported case requiring a thoracoabdominal approach for excision. Though giant schwanommas raise concern for malignancy due to their large size, they generally turn out to be benign
Background: Meningiomas are common intradural extramedullary spinal tumors with a predilection for the thoracic spine. They are mostly benign (90%), with only a few showing malignant potential. However, circumferential intradural meningiomas surrounding the spinal cord are exceptionally rare. Here, we present a 40-year-old patient with a T6-T7 circumferential lesion who underwent surgery. In addition, we reviewed three similar cases previously reported in the literature. Case Description: A 40-year-old female presented with paraparesis. Imaging demonstrated a T6-T7 thoracic circumferential intradural lesion, considered to most likely be a meningioma. At surgery, the posterolateral portion of the tumor was removed, but there was residual ventral disease. The tumor recurred several years later, and was again partially removed, now leaving her with a residual neurological deficit. Three similar cases of circumferential meningiomas, one cervical and two thoracic, were reported from the literature. Conclusion: Circumferential meningiomas pose unique and significant surgical challenges, particularly since resection of the posterolateral components is feasible, but some tumor may have to be left ventrally to avoid injury to the anterior spinal artery, that may recur.
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