[A case of schwannoma of intrathoracic right phrenic nerve]

A 22-year old man was admitted because of an abnormal shadow on his chest X-ray film. Radiographic findings revealed that the tumor was located in the right middle mediastinum. At operation a smooth round tumor was found arising from the right phrenic nerve. The tumor was removed with phrenic nerve. Pathohistological examination revealed this tumor was benign schwannoma. Intrathoracic schwannoma usually arise from intercostal and sympathetic nerve and that arising from phrenic nerve is very rare. We removed the tumor by means of cutting his right phrenic nerve because of complete resection. Postoperatively he did well without any respiratory distress. And his respiratory function studies recovered normal 9 months after the operation. We think that schwannoma arising from phrenic nerve should be removed completely and in such a case cutting of the one side phrenic nerve is at ease if the patient have normal respiratory function.