A Cervical Vagal Schwannoma Mimicking a Parathyroid Cyst

Abstract

Cervical vagal schwannomas with cystic degeneration changes are extremely rare. These tumors are typically benign and slow growing. A 44-year-old woman underwent complete resection of a tumor measuring 4×3.5 cm in the right neck using the endoscopic approach, instead of the conventional transcervical approach. We applied the new scarless neck surgery technique with an endoscopic unilateral axillo-breast approach. The tumor originated from the right vagus nerve, and was confirmed to be a vagal schwannoma pathologically. The patient has been followed up for 18 months postoperatively with no evidence of tumor recurrence or neurological deficit. We report an extremely rare vagal schwannoma with cystic degeneration that was removed by an endoscopic approach, along with a review of the relevant literature.