Surgical Treatment of Caudal Cranial Nerves Schwannomas: Literature Review and Analysis of Own Clinical Observations

Abstract

Weak or moderate vascularizationCaudal cranial nerves schwannomas (CCNS) include tumors growing from glossopharyngeal, vagus, and accessory nerves. Such tumors make up to 2.9-4.0% of all intracranial schwannomas. The ratio of caudal group schwannomas to vestibular schwannomas is 1/24 [1][2][3]. According to research data, 90% of jugular foramen schwannomas originate from vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves [4]. Caudal cranial nerves schwannomas are slow-growing neoplasms with a non-infiltrative character of spreading. Exact determination of the nerve from which a tumor originates is a complex problem. Clinical picture depends on the nerve from which a tumor grows, its location, and size. First symptoms are headache (66%), hearing loss (50%), hoarseness (38%), and dysphagia (38%). Clinical picture in 81% of patients includes caudal group nerves dysfunction, 75% hearing loss, 44% cerebellar damage, 31% lingual hemiatrophy, 25% facial paresis, 13% facial

Challenges in preoperative diagnosis of glossopharyngeal nerve schwannoma: own findings analysis

“…Clinical picture of glossopharyngeal schwannoma (GPS) and vestibular schwannoma (VS) is characterized by a similar set of clinical symptoms of lesions and irritation of both cerebellopontine angle (CPA) and caudal group of CNs. Difficulties in differential preoperative diagnosis are caused not only by the VS but also by other intra-and extracranial tumors (in particular, JF paraganglioma) [3,9].…”