A case of intrathoracic schwannoma derived from the left vagus nerve

: We report a case of schwannoma asymptomatic for 9 years, derived from the left vagus nerve in the middle mediastinum. This spindle-shaped tumor caused paralysis of the left recurrent nerve as an initial clinical manifestation with cough. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a neurogenic tumor with a characteristic target appearance and with constituents of different intensities: mucinous material in the peripheral zone and solitary tissue in the central zone. But, this different intensity is not directly reflected by the histopathologic features of Antoni types A and B. These findings suggest that MRI is useful for determining the parent nerve of a neurogenic tumor and is helpful for the diagnosis.