Neck schwannoma mimicking a thyroid tumor.

Although we often see patients with neck tumors, neck schwannomas are quite rare. We should keep schwannnoma in mind when we identified tumors on the side of the neck.

An 87‐year‐old Japanese woman with no underlying diseases noticed a growing soft tumor on the left side of her neck (Figure  1A). Ultrasonography detected a low‐echoic mass (Figure  1B). The mass included multiple low‐density spots in the intervertebral foramen as determined by enhanced computed tomography (Figure  1C). Neck magnetic resonance imaging indicated a solid low‐intensified (Figure  1D) and high‐intensified (Figure  1E) tumor by T1‐ and T2‐images, respectively. The tumor was connected to the cervical spinal cord, suggesting a neurogenic origin. Aspiration cytology indicated a class III (Figure  1F). Tumor resection and tissue biopsy were waived, as the patient complained of radiating pain after aspiration. Although core needle biopsy is useful in soft tissue tumor like schwannoma,1 it may cause persistent and difficult‐to‐treat pain.2 We diagnosed the tumor as a schwannoma based on the imaging and cytological results.

Figure 1

(A) is a macroscopic image. You can see a mass in the circle, (B) is an ultrasonographic image of schwannoma, (C) is an image of enhanced CT. The arrow indicates schwannoma, (D) and (E) are T1‐ and T2‐weighted images of MRI. The arrows also indicate schwannoma, (F) is an image of cytological diagnosis

Neck schwannomas are rare compared to thyroid tumors. Although infrequent, we must keep this disease entity in mind when we identified neck tumor. Neck schwannoma can be distinguished by image inspection and cytology.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors have stated explicitly that there are no conflicts of interest in connection with this article.

DISCLOSURE

None of the authors has any financial relationships relevant to this publication to disclose.