Posterior Mediastinal Mass in Patients with von Recklinghausen’s Disease

A 31-year-old female with von Recklinghausen’s disease (neurofibromatosis type 1) was admitted to our hospital because of an abnormal shadow on chest X-ray. Past history was essentially not contributory. Numerous caféau-lait spots and small-sized masses were distributed over the patient’s arms, legs and trunk. She had been asymptomatic without any signs of kyphoscoliosis or neurological dysfunction. Chest X-ray showed a well-circumscribed rounded mass, 7 cm in size, in the posterior mediastinum (fig. 1). Tomographic X-rays revealed an enlarged 5th intervertebral canal and a defect in the 5th vertebral body.