Schwannom des Nervus intercostalis

Tumor and

tumorlike conditions of the pleura and juxtapleural region: review of imaging findings. Diagnosis: schwannoma. Technique: standard chest radiography, contrast-enhanced chest CT and 18FDG-PET CT. Description: A 55-year-old man with no significant medical history was referred for a chest radiograph because of a persistent cough. As an incidental finding, a sharp delineated mass (arrow) laterally in the right hemithorax was found on the postero-anterior chest radiograph (a). Coronal and axial CT images (b, c) in the mediastinal window setting reveal a small homogeneous lesion located intercostally between the 5th and 6th right ribs. The lesion shows high uptake on 18-F-FDG PET (d). Although the high uptake on PET may mislead to a malignant cause, histopathologic examination of the resected specimen confirmed the suggested diagnosis of a schwannoma

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Tumor and

tumorlike conditions of the pleura and juxtapleural region: review of imaging findings. Diagnosis: benign schwannoma with low mitotic activity. Technique: standard chest radiography, contrast-enhanced chest CT and MRI. Description: A 55-year-old man with respiratory distress was transferred to our hospital after drainage of a hemothorax. The antero-posterior chest radiograph (a) shows a large mass in the left lung with a perilesional rim of air (due to pneumothorax). On contrast-enhanced CT (b) the homogeneous hypointense mass is located paravertebral in the left lower lobe with vertebral scalloping (arrow on c). There are no intralesional calcifications or necrosis. Note also the adjacent consolidation due to atelectasis. On the axial T2 FS WI MR image (d), the lesion has a high signal intensity and is relatively enhancing after contrast administration (e). Based on imaging findings and the size of the lesion, a malignant nerve sheath tumor was suggested. Histopathologic examination of the resected mass, however, did not reveal signs of malignancy but showed an 11-cm large benign schwannoma with low mitotic activity. Genetic counseling for NF-1 was negative

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Radiopaedia • CC-by-nc-sa 3.0 • de

Intercostal nerve neurilemmomas, also known as intercostal nerve schwannoma or neurinoma, are nerve sheath encapsulated tumors affecting intercostal nerves.

Please refer to the article on schwannomas for a broad discussion about these tumors.

Epidemiology

They account for <10% of primary neural tumors that arise in the chest (majority arise from the mediastinum ). They occur commonly occur between 20 and 50 years of age .