Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 26, 2018; 6(16): 1202-1205
Published online Dec 26, 2018. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v6.i16.1202
Schwannoma originating from the recurrent laryngeal nerve in a thyroid cancer patient: A case report and review of the literature
Xie-Qun Xu, Tao Hong, Chao-Ji Zheng
Xie-Qun Xu, Tao Hong, Chao-Ji Zheng, Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China
Author contributions: Xu XQ gathered the data, prepared the initial manuscript draft, and approved the final draft; all other authors contributed to patient care, offered expert advice on manuscript preparation, and approved the final draft; Hong T was the principal investigator and approved the final draft.
Informed consent statement: The study participant provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author to: Tao Hong, MD, Doctor, Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, 1 Shuaifuyuan, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100730, China. xiequnxu@gmail.com
Telephone: +86-10-69152610 Fax: +86-10-69152610
Received: September 20, 2018
Peer-review started: September 21, 2018
First decision: October 25, 2018
Revised: November 5, 2018
Accepted: November 7, 2018
Article in press: November 7, 2018
Published online: December 26, 2018
Processing time: 96 Days and 16.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Schwannoma rarely originates from the recurrent laryngeal nerve, and there are few reports on schwannoma originating from the recurrent nerve in the mediastinum. Herein, we present an extremely rare case of schwannoma originating from the recurrent laryngeal nerve in the neck.

CASE SUMMARY

This is a case report of one patient diagnosed with thyroid cancer with schwannoma originating from the recurrent laryngeal nerve in the neck, which was incidentally found during a thyroidectomy, and a review of the literature.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative diagnostic examinations are of less use for detecting schwannoma originating from a recurrent laryngeal nerve in the neck in such small size, which may only incidentally be found during a thyroidectomy. Surgical excision with opening the capsule and shelling out the tumor is the treatment of choice. If the nerve is unable to be preserved, end-to-end recurrent laryngeal nerve anastomosis may be a simple and minimally invasive reconstruction procedure to improve phonation.

Keywords: Schwannoma; Recurrent laryngeal nerve; Thyroid cancer; Head and neck; Surgery; Case report

Core tip: Schwannoma originating from the left recurrent laryngeal nerve is very rare. This paper showed the clinical manifestation and management of such a case, and a systematic literature review was also performed. This case has very useful clinical practice meanings for residents and medical students, including physicians and surgeons. Surgical excision with opening the capsule and shelling out the tumor is the treatment of choice. If the nerve is not able to be preserved, end-to-end recurrent laryngeal nerve anastomosis may be a simple and minimally invasive reconstruction procedure to improve phonation.