This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Oncology  • Head & Neck Cancer  • Neoplasms of Head & Neck  • Diagnosis  • Alert me on articles by topic

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;133(8):836.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Diagnosis: Ancient schwannoma of the right temporal region

Schwannomas are encapsulated tumors that arise from nerve sheath cells. They are characterized by an eccentric growth pattern, compressing rather than infiltrating the nerve. In approximately 25% of the cases, they are located in the head and neck region and their behavior is benign.¹ Malignant transformation occurs extremely infrequently.² Preoperative diagnosis of these tumors is complicated. On ultrasonography, King et al³ suspect a schwannoma when the mass is solitary, oval, and hypoechoic and there is no echogenic hilum but there is posterior enhancement. They admit, however, that the latter characteristic can easily cause schwannomas to be confused with cystic lesions, as schwannomas may also contain cystic areas. Differentiating schwannomas from neurofibromas is difficult as well, because neurofibromas show the same ultrasonographic features. King and colleagues were able to identify the associated nerve in only 5 of 8 cases.

The ultrasonographic diagnosis of an ancient schwannoma is nearly impossible because differences . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLE

Radiology Quiz Case 1
Victor Helmstaedter, Carsten Maximilian Pietsch, Karl-Bernd Huttenbrink, and Dirk Beutner
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2007;133(8):834.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT