Rare Presentations of Schwannoma in the Head and Neck Region: Case Report and Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21276/apalm.3919Keywords:
schwannoma, tongue, parotid glandAbstract
Background: Schwannomas are benign tumours which originate from Schwann cells. They are typically encapsulated, slow growing and predominantly seen in the head and neck region, in association with cranial nerves. The parotid gland and the tongue represent rare sites for schwannomas, leading to diagnostic challenges.
Case summary: We present two cases of Scwannoma in rare locations, one being a 60-year-old male with a painless slow growing mass in the left preauricular region, and the other a 26-year-old male with a painless mass on the right lateral border of the tongue. Both cases were reported as Schwannoma on histopathology, confirmed by Immunohistochemistry.
Conclusion: Head and neck Schwannomas are closely associated with cranial nerves, and if undetected, may result in neurological deficits due to compression of neural structures. Thus awareness about this entity being an important differential diagnosis of any slow-growing, painless mass in the head and neck is needed, as failure to recognize it may result in inappropriate surgical planning.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Yogeshwari Mane, Abhijit Bhanji, Pranay Pardeshi, Amrita Neelakantan
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