What to do with thoracic neurogenic tumors

Neurogenic tumors are a health problem that troubles many people. They are a common health problem in the neck, chest and other parts of the body. Neurogenic tumor is a disease that can have a great impact on human health and is also a disease with a certain risk of malignant transformation. The best way to treat this disease is surgical removal. Below, we will introduce you to the relevant knowledge about thoracic neurogenic tumors in detail.

Most of them are neurotheca tumors, which originate from Schwann cells on the nerve sheath and often occur in the cervical cutaneous nerves, sympathetic nerves, vagus nerves, etc. The tumor was located in the upper lateral part of the neck, deep to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Comes in round or circular shape with smooth surface. When the disease grows slowly and the lesion is small, there are often no obvious symptoms. When the tumor is large, it may protrude into the pharynx, causing the lateral walls of the pharynx to move inward and become fuller, which may affect breathing in severe cases. Occasionally, it may become malignant, manifested by rapid enlargement of the tumor within a short period of time, or accompanied by symptoms such as vagal and hypoglossal nerve paralysis.

The tumor was located in the upper lateral part of the neck, deep to the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Comes in round or circular shape with smooth surface. When the disease grows slowly and the lesion is small, there are often no obvious symptoms. When the tumor is large, it may protrude into the pharynx, causing the lateral walls of the pharynx to move inward and become fuller, which may affect breathing in severe cases. Occasionally, it may become malignant, manifested by rapid enlargement of the tumor within a short period of time, or accompanied by symptoms such as vagal and hypoglossal nerve paralysis.

The tumor is removed via the lateral cervical approach in order to clearly identify the location of the carotid artery, internal jugular vein, vagus nerve, and hypoglossal nerve to avoid accidental injury when removing the tumor.

The effective treatment for neurogenic tumors is surgery, which can be completed through a posterolateral thoracotomy. Small tumors without intraspinal involvement can also be removed under video-assisted thoracoscopy. Regardless of which approach is taken, the pleura on the surface of the tumor must first be incised, and the tumor must be sharply separated. Sometimes one or several intercostal nerves or sympathetic trunks must be removed. In a few cases, the intercostal arteries must be sacrificed. For dumbbell-shaped tumors growing in the spinal canal, surgery should be performed together with a neurosurgeon to free the intraspinal tumor and then free the thoracic part. The thoracic part can be completed through a standard posterolateral incision or a small incision, with extrapleural entry or under electronic thoracoscopy. Malignant neurosarcoma should be treated with radiotherapy after surgery.