[Posterior mediastinum neoplasms: a case of schwannoma]

The Authors report the case of a 33-year-old male affected with an asymptomatic schwannoma of the posterior mediastinum, and review the relevant Literature, discussing the difficulties in making the differential diagnosis of the posterior mediastinum lesions, particularly in the pre-clinical phase. Neurogenic tumors represent about 75 percent of all tumors of mediastinum and about one third of all tumors of the mediastinum. They can originate from the peripheral nervous system group, from the sympathetic nervous system group or, in rare cases, from the vagus nerve. In adult patients, they are usually found by chance during radiographic examination of the thorax, and they are usually asymptomatic and benign. During preoperative evaluation, a magnetic resonance examination of rachis should be done to exclude the possibility of intraspinal involvement. If there are no contraindications, the treatment of choice should be surgical resection by means of thoracoscopy or thoracotomy, when size and location of the tumors allow it in order to prevent malignant evolution.