Primary neurilemoma of the diaphragm.

A neurilemoma of the diaphragm in an asymptomatic 46-year-old woman is reported, and 12 cases of primary neural tumor of the diaphragm reported previously are reviewed. The common symptoms in these patients are chest pain, cough, and dyspnea. Joint pain or clubbing of the fingers is present in nearly half of the patients. As with diaphragmatic tumors in general, many neural tumors of the diaphragm are malignant. We believe that all such tumors should be resected through a thoracotomy incision, which affords optimal exposure of the diaphragm.