Background: Spontaneous hemothorax is an uncommon, life-threatening situation. Many causes for spontaneous hemothorax have been documented, but mediastinal tumor is an extremely rare cause. This is only the second
reported case of a schwannoma causing hemothorax.
Case Report: We report a case of right-sided spontaneous hemothorax that occurred in a 37-year-old woman with a cellular schwannoma in the posterior portion of the superior mediastinum. After drainage the tumor was
removed surgically via right posterolateral thoracotomy. The tumor was resected, corpusectomy was performed to the Th2 and Th3 vertebrae, a costal autograft was placed and fusion was performed from Th1 to Th4 vertebrae. The patient recovered completely and was discharged 2 weeks after admission. The unusual cause and the interesting clinical course of spontaneous hemothorax are described.
Conclusions: Spontaneous hemothorax caused by schwannoma is a distinct clinical entity that must be considered in management of a patient with a posterior mediastinal mass because of surrounding vital structures the
tumor should be treated without delay.

Keywords: spontaneous hemothorax, cellular schwannoma, mediastinal tumor