Schwannoma arising in a lymph node mimicking metastatic pulmonary carcinoma

• Main Authors: Mitsuhiro Kamiyoshihara, MD., PhD., Hitoshi Igai, MD., PhD., Fumi Ohsawa, MD., Ryohei Yoshikawa, MD., Tomohiro Yazawa, MD., PhD.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2018-01-01
• Series: Respiratory Medicine Case Reports
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221300711830100X

Schwannomas commonly arise in the torso, extremities, and mediastinum. However, no interlobar lymph node (#11i) lesions have ever been reported. This is a thought-provoking case, because it involved a schwannoma arising in a lymph node mimicking metastatic pulmonary carcinoma. A 72-year-old man was diagnosed with primary pulmonary carcinoma, and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography demonstrated high FDG uptake in the primary lesion and in #11i, which suggested metastasis (clinical stage IIA). A right lower lobectomy with lymph node dissection was performed. Fortunately, the enlarged #11i was a schwannoma and not metastasis. The take-home message is “a patient with multiple neuromatosis tends to have schwannomas throughout the body”. Keywords: Schwannoma, Lymph node metastasis, Lung cancer, Positron emission tomography