A rare case of malignant schwannoma of the brachial plexus

Abstract

We report a rare case of malignant schwannoma of the brachial plexus treated during a surgical campaign aimed at the poorest communities in the Cuzco region of Peru. A Peruvian 40-year-old-female from a mountain community presented with a mass on the lateral side of her left supraclavicular space. No imaging tools were available during this surgical campaign and so a biopsy of the tumor was carried out. Histopathological examination revealed it to be a low grade malignant schwannoma. A nerve enucleation of the tumor was chosen as neither chemotherapy nor radiotherapy was available. The tumour was a firm mass 4 cm x 3 cm x 2 cm in size. After excision of the lesion the patient presented neurological sequelae (deltoid, bicep, and tricep weakness) but her condition improved over the next 3 years. We report this case of malignant schwannoma of the brachial plexus as its incidence is very rare (the reported incidence is 0.001%) and because of its challenging treatment in poor healthcare conditions. © 2013 Baishideng. All rights reserved.