Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors (IMTs) are benign neoplasms that can occur at different anatomic sites with nonspecific clinical symptoms. A 48-yr-old woman presented with a 2-month history of a relapsed oral ulcer, progressive dyspnea, and a thoracic pain induced by breathing. A tumorous mass was noticed in the right costodiaphragmatic recess on chest computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and the patient underwent a right costotransversectomy with excision of the tumor, which originated from the 12th intercostal nerve. Histology and immunohistochemistry showed that the tumor was an IMT of the intercostal nerve. The patient's postoperative course was not favorable; dyspnea persisted after surgery, and a progressive pulmonary compromise developed. The cause of the respiratory failure was found to be bronchiolitis obliterans, which in this case proved to be a fatal complication of paraneoplastic pemphigus associated with an IMT. This case of IMT of the spinal nerve in the paravertebral region is unique in terms of its location and presentation in combination with paraneoplastic pemphigus, which is rare. A brief review of the heterogeneous theories concerning the pathogenesis, clinicopathological features, and differential diagnosis of this disease entity is presented.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Fatal Outcome ; Female ; Granuloma, Plasma Cell/complications/*pathology ; Humans ; Intercostal Nerves/*pathology ; Lung Diseases/etiology/pathology ; Middle Aged ; Paraneoplastic Syndromes/etiology/*pathology ; Pemphigus/etiology/*pathology ; Peripheral Nervous System Neoplasms/complications/*pathology

OBJECTIVETo study the methods and the clinical value of preserving intercostobrachial nerve during the axillary lymph nodes excision in breast cancer operations.

METHODSOne hundred and sixty-two cases of stages I, II, IIIa breast cancer patients were divided into experimental group and control group respectively. The intercostobrachial nerves were preserved in experimental group and not in control group. Both groups were treated following the practice guideline of breast cancer, and found no recurrence during 4 to 36 months following up.

RESULTSThe postoperative arm sensory disturbance was 22.2% in the experimental group, which was significantly different from that of the control group 73.3% (chi(2) = 41.80, P < 0.01), the incidence of pain is 12.5% in experimental group, which was also significantly different from that of control group 31.1% (chi(2) = 7.86, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONPreserving intercostobrachial nerves may significantly decrease the postoperative morbidity of arm sensory disturbance and pain during axillary excision of stage I, II, IIIa breast cancer patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Axilla ; innervation ; surgery ; Breast Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intercostal Nerves ; injuries ; Lymph Node Excision ; methods ; Mastectomy ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; prevention & control ; Sensation Disorders ; prevention & control