An operative case of benign schwannoma originating in the intrathoracic vagal nerve

: A 50-years-old man was admitted with cough and abnormal shadow on the chest film. The tumor originated from the left vagal nerve in the antero-superior mediastinum. Subcapsular extirpation was performed to save the nerve function, since the tumor located in the site proximal to the branching point of the recurrence nerve. Pathological diagnosis was a benign schwannoma. Though H-E and Bodian stain did not show any nerve fibers in the schwannoma, postoperative hoarseness arose. In this country, 4 cases of subcapsular extirpation have been performed, but all of them had postoperative hoarseness. We think that postoperative hoarseness cannot be prevented by the subcapsular extirpation.