A Mass Involving the Buccal Branch of the Facial Nerve

Atypical cellular neurothekeoma of the oral mucosa: A rare case report and literature review

Cellular neurothekeoma (CN) is a benign dermal neoplasm that most often affects the head and neck region and rarely occurs in the oral mucosa. We report a rare case of CN with atypical features on the floor of the mouth and summarize the reported cases of oral CN in English-language literature. A 62-year-old woman presented with a 6-month history of a painless mass on the floor of the mouth. Histopathological analysis of the excised specimen revealed a proliferation of neoplastic cells with oval to spindle morphology arranged in a vaguely nested and multinodular architecture separated by scarce hyaline collagen within a predominantly myxoid-rich stroma. The tumor cells were positive for NSE, and CD63 (NKI/C3), and negative for S100 protein, CD34, and SMA. Thus, the final diagnosis was CN. In addition, we summarized all clinicopathological data on oral CNs reported in the English-language literature. Nineteen cases were reviewed. Among them, only one case affected the floor of the mouth of a young girl, in contrast to the present case that occurred in an elderly woman. CN is particularly rare in this location and may be a diagnostic challenge for oral pathologists due to its rarity and morphological similarity with other lesions.

Sleeve-Shaped Neurothekeoma of the Ulnar Nerve: A Unique Case of a Still Unclear Pathological Entity

Background: Neurothekeomas are slow-growing, well-circumscribed benign neoplasms. They usually involve cutaneous or subcutaneous tissues. Although originally described as myxomas deriving from nerve sheath cells, their exact histological classification is still uncertain. Peripheral nerve localization is rarely reported. Here, we describe a unique case of sleeve-shaped neurothekeoma of the ulnar nerve, which was incidentally discovered during a cubital tunnel release surgery. Methods: A 57-year-old man was admitted at our institution with clinical, ultrasonographic, and electromyographic findings highly suggestive of cubital tunnel syndrome. During ulnar nerve decompression surgery, however, no bony or ligament compression was noticed, but a segment of the nerve wrapped by a thick sleeve-shaped tissue, which had no clear-cut cleavage plane from the nerve. Given this unexpected finding, the en bloc excision of the lesion was avoided. A nerve decompression with biopsy of the swelling portion of the lesion was performed instead. Results: Histological examination described abundant myxoid stroma, with epithelioid and ring-shaped cells arranged in cords, negative to S100 protein at immunohistochemical analysis. This pattern was suggestive of neurothekeoma. The patient showed improvement in hypermyotrophy and intrinsic weakness of the hand. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a sleeve-shaped neurothekeoma of the ulnar nerve. The exact pathological characterization of such rare entities remains uncertain. In case of peripheral nerve localization, and when a clear cleavage plane is absent, the correct management of these lesions should be that of simple nerve decompression followed by biopsy.