PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Wang, Baoxin
AU  - Yuan, Junjie
AU  - Chen, Xinwei
AU  - Xu, Hongming
AU  - Zhou, Yuan
AU  - Dong, Pin
TI  - Extracranial non-vestibular head and neck schwannomas
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2015.11.12314
DP  - 2015 Nov 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 1363--1366
VI  - 36
IP  - 11
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/36/11/1363.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/36/11/1363.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2015 Nov 01; 36
AB  - Objectives: To retrospectively describe our 10-year experience with extracranial non-vestibular head and neck schwannomas by presenting their clinical features, diagnostic methods, surgical decisions, and treatment outcomes.Methods: This is a retrospective study conducted at the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Shanghai First People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China. The medical records of 46 patients diagnosed with schwannoma in the extracranial head and neck region as confirmed on paraffin-embedded sections from January 2003 to December 2012 were reviewed.Results: All tumors were benign, and 52% presented as asymptomatic palpable solitary masses. Compressive symptoms, which can represent meaningful indicators of the nerve of origin were commonly noted. The most common nerve of origin was the brachial plexus (n=13, 28.3%).Conclusion: While postoperative histopathologic examination is still the gold standard, fine needle aspiration cytology, CT scan, and magnetic resonance imaging may be useful in the diagnosis of schwannomas. As schwannomas are radioresistant, and as, despite their benign nature, can cause severe secondary symptoms, the best treatment of choice is complete excision with preservation of functions.