Two rare schwannomas of head and neck

Karima Idrissi Serhrouchni, Laila Chbani, Nawal Hammas, Dounia Kamal, Hinde El Fatemi, Taoufik Harmouch, Noure-eddine El Alami, Afaf Amarti

Twenty-five to 45 percent of all schwannomas occur in the head and neck. Most of them arise along the vestibular portion of the eighth cranial nerve (acoustic neurinoma). They rarely originate from the peripheral facial nerve or other nerves within the parotid gland. Less than 4% of schwannomas involve the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. They arise from the branches of the trigeminal nerve and autonomic nervous system.We report two cases of schwannomas arisng from intraparotid facial nerve and nasal cavity. The first case diagnosed in a 62-year-old-man presented with 2-year-history of painless mass of the parotid gland. The lesion was found to be cystic through the pre operative examinations and investigations. The histology of the specimen retained an intraparotid cystic schwannoma. The second case concerned a 75-year-old-man presented with episodes of nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, anosmia and headache. Histological study of the specimen showed fusiform cells with strongly and diffusely immunostaining for S100 protein suggesting a schwannoma.