A case of esophageal schwannoma and literature analysis of 18 cases

An extremely rare case of esophageal schwannoma in a 40-year-old woman is reported. She presented with a history of dysphagia persisting for a few years. After close examination the patient underwent surgery under a diagnosis of leiomyoma of the esophagus. The tumor was found in the muscle layers of the esophageal wall, and was enucleated with part of the esophageal mucosa. Histological examination of the tumor demonstrated proliferation of spindle-shaped cells. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were diffusely positive for S-100 protein. The pathological diagnosis of this tumor was esophageal schwannoma. To date, only 18 cases of esophageal schwannoma, including our case, have been reported in Japan. This rare case is reported here, together with a review of the literature. © Japan Esophageal Society and Springer-Verlag 2005.