Schwannoma tongue: a rare entity

A Large Intraoral Sublingual Schwannoma in a Pediatric Patient: A Case Report

INTRODUCTION

Schwannoma is a benign neoplasm that arises from Schwannoma cells found in the peripheral nerve sheath. It's a frequent neoplasm in the head and neck area, but it's exceedingly unusual to find it in the mouth. It's a rare occurrence in the oral cavity of the pediatric age group.

CASE REPORT

We present a 12-year-old kid who has had a smooth, firm, and non-tender mass in the sublingual region for the past year. The mass was removed completely using a transoral technique. The diagnosis of sublingual schwannoma was confirmed by histopathological and immunohistochemical testing.

CONCLUSION

Schwannomas are typically benign and have a good prognosis with a low risk of malignant change. It should be used as a differential diagnostic for sublingual diseases such as ranula and salivary gland lesions. In the case of lingual schwannoma, surgical removal of the tumor is the preferred therapy. The transoral method is the most popular treatment option for sublingual schwannoma.

Schwannoma of the Base of the Tongue: A Case Report of a Rare Disease and Review of Literatures

BACKGROUND

Schwannoma is a benign nerve sheath tumor. It was first identified by Virchow in 1908. These tumors can emerge from any nerve covered with a Schwann cell sheath, including the cranial nerves (with the exception of the optic and olfactory nerves), the spinal nerves, and the autonomous nervous system (Harada H, Omura K and Maeda A, 2001). Case Presentation. A 28-year-old male farmer presented with a swelling at the right side of the base of tongue extending into the oral tongue. It was identified incidentally by his newly married wife while he was yawning. It was asymptomatic. The patient had no difficulty in chewing, swallowing, or phonation and also no sensory or taste abnormalities. The tongue movements were normal.

CONCLUSIONS

Diagnosis of schwannoma should be considered for a smooth, painless, firm swelling in the tongue. A schwannoma of the tongue may grow large enough before producing any symptom. Around 25-40% of schwannoma happen within the head and neck region, and among these, 1-12% occurs in the oral cavity, most regularly the tongue or mouth floor. Schwannoma of the tongue does not show any age or sex predisposition. It usually presents as a painless lump in the tongue, but when it grows larger than 3.0 cm, it may produce dysphagia, pain, or discomfort and change in the quality of voice. Here, we report a case of large (4 cm × 3 cm) asymptomatic schwannoma of the tongue in a 28-year-old male patient and review the literature available during the last 61 years.

Comprehensive Analyses of Intraoral Benign and Malignant Nerve Sheath Tumors: The Rare Disease Entities Revisited

INTRODUCTION

Intraoral benign and malignant nerve sheath tumors (BNST and MNST) are rare tumors with non-specific clinical presentations and represent diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Current knowledge regarding their demographic, clinicopathological features and treatments remains fragmented.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The original data about patients diagnosed as intraoral BNST and MNST were retrieved from our disease registry (2005-2017). Comprehensive reviews of English and Chinese literature were performed to collect and analyze the epidemiological, clinicopathological data and treatment outcomes about those published cases.

RESULTS

Thirty-four intraoral BNSTs were found at our institution in the past 13 years. Literature reviews identified 354 intraoral BNSTs in 223 articles and 60 intraoral MNSTs in 50 articles. Most intraoral BNSTs and MNSTs were presented in the second to fifth decade of life. Males outnumbered females in MNSTs, while BNSTs displayed a slight female preponderance. The common sites for intraoral BNSTs were parapharyngeal space followed by tongue, whereas mandible was the most common site for MNSTs. Most intraoral BNSTs were presented as slow-growing, painless mass or swelling, while MNSTs usually appeared as painful and invasive mass with discomfort. Surgical excision was preferred for intraoral BNSTs with excellent prognosis. Complete resection was indicated for intraoral MNST with dismal prognosis as evidenced by much recurrence, metastasis, and death.

CONCLUSION

Intraoral BNST and MNST are rare diseases which should not be ignored when intraoral painless or painful mass/swelling is found. Surgical excision is indicated for intraoral BNST with favorable outcomes. However, further investigations are warranted to optimize the treatment for intraoral MNST to improve its prognosis.

Palatal schwannoma in a young female patient: report of a case and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

A few cases of oral schwannomas in paediatric patients have appeared in the literature so far; however, there are no studies focusing solely on paediatric oral schwannomas. The aim of this study is to report a case of palatal schwannoma in a young female patient and review the pertinent literature on oral schwannomas in paediatric patients.

CASE REPORT

A 12-year-old girl presented with a growing swelling of 2 weeks duration on the hard palate. With a provisional diagnosis of a salivary gland neoplasm an incisional biopsy was performed under local anesthesia and the histologic examination disclosed an Antony A type schwannoma.

TREATMENT

Complete surgical resection of the lesion was performed under local anaesthesia through a palatal mucosa incision and paraffin gauze was sutured on the surgical area for protection during secondary healing. The bone underlying the tumor was normal. The postoperative period was uneventful and 2 weeks after excision the gauze were removed.

FOLLOW-UP

There have been no signs of recurrence during a 18-month follow up period.

CONCLUSION

A palatal swelling in a child or adolescent may represent a neoplasm, such as a schwannoma and requires careful clinical and radiographic evaluation of the dentition.

Schwannoma of the tongue: a case report with review of literature

BACKGROUND

Schwannomas (or neurilemmomas) of the tongue are benign, usually solitary, encapsulated masses derived from Schwann cells. Clinical evidence indicates that schwannoma is painless and slow growing. In general, schwannoma is treated by surgical excision. Here, we describe a case of schwannoma of the tongue, include a review of the literature from 1955 to 2016, and provide data on age, gender, location, presenting symptoms, size, and treatment methods.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 71-year-old female patient presented with a swelling at the base of the tongue of unknown duration. Magnetic resonance images (MRI) showed a large well-circumscribed solid mass and no significant lymph node enlargement. The mass was excised without removing overlying mucosa.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors report a case of lingual schwannoma that was completely removed intraorally without preoperative biopsy. No sign or symptoms of recurrence were observed at 12 months postoperatively.

Schwannoma of the tongue in a paediatric patient: a case report and 20-year review

Schwannomas (Neurilemmomas) are benign, encapsulated, slow-growing, and usually solitary tumours originating from Schwann cells of the peripheral nerve sheath with uncertain etiology. Approximately 25-48% of cases are seen in the head and neck region, of which 1% appears in the oral cavity. Lingual schwannoma can affect all age groups with peak incidence between the third and sixth decade. We report a rare case of lingual schwannoma in a 14-year-old girl complaining of asymptomatic swelling over lateral border of tongue since two years. Clinical examination revealed a nodule 1.5 × 1 cm in size, rubbery, nontender, smooth at right lateral border of tongue covered by normal mucosa, with no cervical lymphadenopathy. Excisional biopsy of the lesion was done under local anaesthesia. The histological sections spindle cells with thin wavy nuclei arranged as typical Antoni A (with Verocay bodies) and Antoni B areas. Nuclear palisading distribution (typical of a schwannoma) was readily identifiable. The patient was recurrence-free after one year.