Mediastinal schwannoma with atypical localization diagnosed by endobronchial ultrasound.

Introduction: Schwannoma is a peripheral nerve sheath tumor usually originating from the posterior mediastinum. Because schwannomas can exhibit high fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography, they cannot be distinguished from malignant tumors.

Objectives: We present this case to stress the importance of endobronchial ultrasonography in the diagnosis of intrapulmonary masses with rare occurrence and different localization.

Methods: A patient was referred to our clinic for further workup of a soft tissue mass in the anterior mediastinum and diagnosed with a benign schwannoma by endobronchial ultrasonography.

Results: The diagnosis is thus largely based on pathological examination. Until today schwannomas have been diagnosed by pathology examination of lesions excised surgically for suspected malignancy.

Conclusion: This article was reported since intrapulmonary schwannoma is a very rare tumor and this was the first case of an anterior mediastinal schwannoma diagnosed by endobronchial ultrasonography.