Primary intrathoracic malignant neurogenic tumor: report of three cases and comparison with benign neurogenic tumors resected at our institution

Surgical Case Reports

Table 1 Patient characteristics in the benign and malignant neurogenic tumor groups

	BNT ( n = 21)	MNT ( n = 3)
Gender (male/female)	13/8	2/1
Age (years)	52 ± 18 (15 to 72)^a	27 ± 14 (17 to 43)^a
Symptom (yes/no)	2/19	1/2
Location	PM: 16	PM: 3
	Middle: 1
	CW: 4
Tumor size	33.9 ± 22.8 (11 to 90)^a	43 ± 6.1 (30 to 50)^a
Intraspinal extension (yes/no)	19/2	2/1
FDG-PET (positive/negative/not examined)	5/2/14	0/0/3
Surgical approach	VATS: 18	VATS: 1
	VATS + Post: 2	VATS → Open: 1
	Open: 1	VATS + Post: 1
Prognosis	Alive without Rec: 21	Died of tumor: 3

BNT, benign neurogenic tumor; MNT, malignant neurogenic tumor; PM, posterior mediastinal; Middle, middle mediastinal; CW, chest wall; VATS, video-assisted thoracic surgery; Post, posterior approach; Open, thoracotomy; Rec: recurrence. ^aMean ± standard deviation (range).