A case report of giant gangliocytoma of mediastinum

BACKGROUND: Gangliocytoma is an uncommon disease. In this report, we report a patient who was admitted to the hospital with a mediastinal tumor which is giant rarely. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 30-year-old male patient was found to have a mediastinal mass 2 weeks ago during a routine examination. The patient occasionally had chest pain before 1 month. Computed tomography of the chest showed a mass occupying the posterior mediastinum and located anterior to the spine, above the diaphragm. The mass is removed by thoracoscopic surgery. In the surgical field of view, the tumor was loosely adhered to the surrounding organs and was freed by blunt-sharp combination Histologically confirmed mediastinal gangliocytoma with a size of 9.5 cm × 6.0 cm × 3.0 cm. The surgery was successful, and the patient’s symptoms were completely relieved after the surgery. The patient underwent chest X-ray review at the 6th month after discharge, and no recurrence was found. CONCLUSIONS: Gangliocytomas are rare tumors of the peripheral nervous system. However, most of these tumors are retroperitoneal and are more common in children and young adults. Ganglioneuromas arise from neural crest cells. Most of these tumors are asymptomatic, but some may develop high blood pressure and flushing. Surgery is the best way to treat such tumors, and attention should be paid to protecting the normal tissue around the tumor during surgery to prevent postoperative complications.