Abstract
A 54-year-old man was referred to our hospital for clinical evaluation of a retroperitoneal mass. Subsequent ultrasonography and CT scan demonstrated that a well circumscribed tumor was located between the abdominal aorta and the left kidney, and its inside appeared markedly heterogenous. MRI imaging also demonstrated that the tumor was associated with cystic degeneration inside. The vascurality of the tumor was not abundant on angiography, and FDG was not significantly accumulated in the tumor on PET-CT. Results of image analysis suggested the diagnosis of neurogenic tumor but the possibility of other lesions could not be ruled out. The surgical removal of the tumor was performed and macroscopically the tumor appeared to be derived from the sympathetic trunk. Subsequent histological analysis revealed that the tumor was benign Schwannoma associated with hyalinization, calcification including ossification, cystic degenerations, intratumoral hemorrhage and other degenerative changes arising from the paraaortic symphathetic trunk because of the presence of ganglion cells located at the periphery of the tumor.
Schwannoma is a tumor derived from the Schwann cells surrounding the peripheral nerves. But this case was so rare because we could not found the case of Schwannoma arising from the paraaortic symphathetic trunk has been reported in Japan so far.
