Abstract
Schwannomas arising in the chest are predominantly detected in the posterior mediastinum, and the frequency of primary schwannomas of the chest wall is low. Palpable schwannomas in the extremities or the head and neck region are sometimes encountered in the literature, but those in the body trunk, especially in the chest wall, have extremely rarely been reported so far.
A 62-year-old man who had been on ambulatory treatment for angina pectoris in the Department of Internal Medicine was found to have a 4-cm sized ill-movable subcutaneous mass in the left precordia by palpation. He was referred to our department for close examination. MRI scan of the inside of the mass showed a low-intensity center and a high-intensity periphery in a concentric pattern on T2-weighted images. Schwannoma was thus diagnosed and the mass was removed. Intraoperative findings suggested that the lateral pectoral nerve appeared to be the structural origin.
Chest wall schwannoma which can be palpated from the body surface is a rare disease, and no cases of schwannoma arisen in the lateral pectoral muscle have been reported as far as we could review. This paper presents our experience with a resected case of the disease, together with bibliographic comments.
