Cervical sympathetic schwannoma with postoperative first bite syndrome.

Extracranial schwannomas occurring in the head and neck region may arise from cranial, peripheral or autonomic nerves. Determination of the nerve of origin is not often made until the time of surgery. Schwannomas arising from the cervical sympathetic chain are extremely rare. These interesting tumors along with schwannomas in general and the remaining class of neurogenic tumors are known for their ability to mimic the physical and radiological findings of carotid body tumors. Surgery is the treatment of choice and major complications are infrequent. However, we report a case of cervical sympathetic chain schwannoma with postoperative first bite syndrome.