Giant trigeminal schwannomas-case report and a short literature review

Abstract

Trigeminal schwannomas (TS) are rare tumors that are located in the posterior and middle cranial fossae in about a quarter of the cases. The presentation pattern is different according to the involved compartment and the goal of surgery is complete removal. We present the case of a 35-year old woman who presented a left sided TS extending from the posterior to the middle fossa and cavernous sinus. We review the relevant literature regarding diagnosis and surgical treatment of these tumors.

A Giant Trigeminal Schwannoma, Posterior Fossa and Middle Fossa Extradural Approach: A Case Report

“…Usually, contrast enhancement on CT is homogeneous or it can have a circum enhancement in cystic lesions. 6 Surgical strategy in TS is generally tailored on the tumor and no definitive recommendations can be made. Because of the difference in the classification systems, lack of volumetric studies and report of trigeminal function, there is an inevitable difficulty in comparing different series, the same as in the case of other complex skull base tumors.…”

“…Some authors divide the possible approaches into conventional approaches and skull-base approaches. 6 The conventional approaches include the subtemporal intradural, frontotemporal infratemporal, while the skull base approaches include anterior transpetrosal, zygomatic infratemporal or zygomatic transpetrosal. 14 Some authors describe the use of adjuvant technical means, e.g.…”

“…5 The symptomatology is not related to tumor size as most patients usually present with mild facial hypoesthesia, various visual disturbances, and sometimes facial pain. 6 Various authors presented their series in the literature, but surgical experience in giant trigeminal schwannomas is still limited. We present a case of a giant trigeminal schwannoma and perform a short review of the current literature.…”