Abstract
Neurilemmoma of the cervical vagus nerve is relatively uncommon. We present a 38-year-old woman who complained of a tumor on the lower right side of the neck. Physical examination revealed a 2×2 cm, smooth surface, almost round, elastic hard tumor behind the anterior margin of the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Surgery was performed under general anesthesia, and it was revealed that the tumor originated from the vagus nerve. The tumor was excised by dividing the vagus nerve. Histologically, it was a neurilemmoma showing Antoni types A and B. Postoperatively, the patient developed hoarseness caused by paralysis of the right vocal cord, and we treated this by injecting silicone into the paralyzed vocal cord.
Two years later, a tumor was found under the skin of her left axilla. Surgery was performed at another hospital and the tumor was histologically diagnosed as neurilemmoma.
To our knowledge, this is the 87th case of neurilemmoma of the cervical vagus nerve reported in Japanese literature.
