VON RECKLINGHAUSEN DISEASE RELATED TO THE FIELD OF THORACIC SURGERY

Recent experience with 3 patients with von Recklinghausen disease who manifested specific symptoms related to thoracic surgery is described.Case 1: A 31-year-old woman was diagnosed as having a neurogenic tumor in the left posterior mediastinum and operated on, however, the correct diagnosis proved to be meningcele.Case 2: A 25-year-old woman, with swelling and pain of the left arm as well as an abnormal shadow in the left posterior mediastinum, was diagnosed as having a ganglioneuroma originating from the Th1 sympathetic ganglion. In the eighth year after resection, an intradural-extramedullary tumor was found at the level of C3 to C7 of the cervical vertebrae. The resected tumor was pathologically diagnosed as neurofibroma. In the ninth postoperative year, subtotal resection of the ulnar nerve was performed because of multiple neurofibroma, and the patient has been doing well.Case 3: A 31-year-old woman who developed sudden onset of right backpain and dyspnea was diagnosed as massive hemothorax on the right side, and underwent an emergency operation. A tear of the tenth intercostal artery and vein with venous bleeding from the tenth intervertabral foramen were found.