Lingual Schwannoma – A common tumor in uncommon location

Pritha Ghose,Tushar Kanti Das,Sanghamitra Mukherjee,Manisha Mahata,Jayati Datta

doi:10.7439/ijbr.v6i9.2443

Abstract

Schwannoma (neurilemmoma) is a solitary, benign, truly encapsulated tumor originating from proliferating Schwann cells of nerve sheath. Though the overall incidence of Schwannoma is 25-45% in head & neck region, only 1% is seen in oral cavity. Tongue is most common in oral cavity. We report a rare case of lingual schwannoma in a 23 years old male patient who presented with painless, small, slow-growing mass over right lateral border of the tongue of three months duration. A clinical diagnosis of traumatic fibroma was made. The patient underwent complete surgical excision. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of schwannoma.

Highlights

Schwannoma is a solitary, benign, encapsulated, slow growing tumor originating from Schwann cells of peripheral sensory or motor nerve [1]
Though the overall incidence of Schwannoma is 25-45% in head & neck region,only 1% is seen in oral cavity, among which tongue is the most common site
We present a rare case of Schwannoma of the lateral border of tongue in a 23 year old male patient who was clinically diagnosed as traumatic fibroma but later on biopsy revealed schwannoma

Summary

Introduction

Schwannoma (neurilemmoma) is a solitary, benign, encapsulated, slow growing tumor originating from Schwann cells of peripheral sensory or motor nerve [1]. Though the overall incidence of Schwannoma is 25-45% in head & neck region,only 1% is seen in oral cavity, among which tongue is the most common site. Because of its low incidence and absence of definite signs and symptoms, it is often not included in differential diagnosis of tongue swelling. Histopathological findings are sufficient for diagnosis [2]. Microscopy revealed a well encapsulated mass (Figure-2) having cellular area comprising of bland spindle cells (Antoni A) and loose myxoid area (Antoni B) (Figure -3). Histopathological diagnosis of Schwannoma was made and confirmed by immunohistochemistry (S100). Figure 1: gross photograph of cut section of tissue showing whitish, solid tumor

Conclusion

Findings

Discussion