Intrathoracic ganglioneuroma in an elderly patient over 70 years of age

Abstract

We herein present an exceedingly rare case of intrathoracic ganglioneuroma that was surgically resected in an elderly patient over 70 years of age. A 74-year-old woman was asymptomatic, but a computed tomography (CT) scan of the thorax indicated the presence of a posterior mediastinal mass paravertebrally. A thoracotomy was thus performed under a strongly suggested diagnosis of a neurogenic tumor because of the appearance and position of the mass on the chest CT and magnetic resonance imaging findings, and measuring 6.9 x 5.8 x 1.6 cm. Not only tumors originating from the nerve sheath, but also neurogenic tumors occurring in young patients such as ganglioneuroma, should be included in the different diagnosis of posterior mediastinal tumor occurring in elderly patients.

CT and MRI findings of thoracic ganglioneuroma

“…It is generally an asymptomatic mass found on routine chest radiography. It grows slowly, and appears large when it is identified [10]. In the current case series, most (19/22; 86%) were in the posterior mediastinum.…”

“…It often occurs in the retroperitoneal space and posterior mediastinum [1][2][3]. Though abdominal ganglioneuroma is often summarised in the literature [3][4][5][6][7], thoracic ganglioneuroma is sporadic and rarely reported [8][9][10][11][12][13]. Because there is a lack of knowledge about thoracic ganglioneuroma, preoperative misdiagnosis often occurs in clinical practice.…”

A giant lobular thoracic ganglioneuroma cause skeletal erosion: A case report and literature review

“…In certain special cases, non-surgical treatment may be a reasonable option for treating GN. [22] However, for GNs growing beside the thoracic vertebrae, short-term stability may lead clinicians to underestimate the potential damage caused by their long-term growth. Considering that thoracic GNs may cause problems such as scoliosis, spinal cord compression, bone erosion, and bone destruction during growth, we recommend adopting an early surgical resection strategy for thoracic GNs based on the individual characteristics of the patient to avoid the risks brought by long-term follow-up.…”

“…This indicates that there may be a The literature review of primary intrathoracic ganglioneuroma. [15] 1992 17/F L N/A Regular No No Osterhouse [16] 2002 25/F L 15 × 7 × 3 Regular No Yes Duffy [17] 2005 27/F R N/A N/A No No Velyvis [10] 2005 15/F R 8 × 8 × 2 Regular No Yes Maruyama [18] 2007 74/F R 6.9 × 5.8 × 1.6 Regular No No Ko [19] 2007 53/F R 9 × 4.5 × 10 Regular No No Zhang [20] 2009 3/F L 5.8 × 4.5 × 4.5 Regular No No Kitagawa [21] 2010 4/F R N/A Regular No No Guan [4] 2012 [22] 2014 [23] 2017 12/F L 12 × 12 × 12 Regular No No Jeon [24] 2017 6/M R 4 × 3.5 × 2 Regular No No Lambdin [25] 2018 42/F L 23 × 10 × 10 Regular No No Algazwi [26] 2020 18/F R N/A Regular No No Elnady [27] 2020 17/F L N/A Regular No No Brock [14] 2020 12/F R 10 × 9.1 × 9.5 Regular Yes Yes Aljuboori [28] 2021 30/NA R N/A Regular No No Tiwari [29] 2022 4/F L 3.8 × 2.5 × 2.3 Regular No No (Continued ) www.md-journal.com potential association between this destructive character of GN and patients' gender. Of course, this also requires larger sample sizes and systematic analysis for verification.…”