A Case of Retroperitoneal Malignant Schwannoma Resected with Right Lobe of Liver and Inferior Vena Cava in a Patient with von Recklinghausen's Disease

Shigehiro Shiozaki, Hiroyosi Matsukawa, Hideki Aoki, Tadashi Onoda, Satosi Ohno, Motoki Ninomiya, Kenji Higaki, Toshiyuki Ikeda, Naohiro Kobayashi and Norihisa Takakura

Department of Surgery, Hiroshima City Hospital

We report a retroperitoneal malignant schwannoma resected with the right liver lobe and inferior vena cava in a patient with von Recklinghausen's disease. A 29-year-old woman was admitted with right abdominal tumor and pain. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed a mass about 25 cm in diameter in the retroperitoneal space that ventrally depressed the inferior vena cava. Venography showed a defect in the inferior vena cava from the third vertebra and presence of collateral circulation. Under a diagnosis of retroperitoneal malignant schwannoma, the tumor was extirpated. Specifically, the liver was split anteriorly and the tumor resected together with the right liver lobe and inferior vena cava. The inferior vena cava was not reconstructed due to stable blood circulation following resection. The woman was discharged on postoperative day (POD) 24 without complication. Retroperitoneal malignant schwannoma is rare without subjective symptoms and has a poor prognosis, partcularly in patients with von Recklinghausen's disease. Treatment requires complete surgical extirpation.

Key words
malignant schwannoma, von Recklinghausen's disease, retroperitoneal tumor

Reprint requests
Shigehiro Shiozaki Department of Surgery, Hiroshima City Hospital 7-33 Motomachi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima, 730-8518 JAPAN

Accepted
June 26, 2001

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