Abstract
This report describes a case of malignant schwannoma in the left jugular foramen and the left trigeminal nerve. A 55-year-old man complaining of headache and nausea was referred to our hospital. Neurological examina-tion revealed disturbance of left 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th cranial nerves and left cerebellar ataxia. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed a round tumor with low signal intensity in the jugular foramen and a small mass in the left trigeminal nerve. The tumors were subtotally removed, using a left suboccipital approach. Four months after the operation, spinal dissemination of the tumor cells was found. He died five months after the onset of symptoms. Microscopically, the tumor was formed by bundle of cells with elongated nuclei, scattered whorl formation, focal mitotic figures and necrosis. Some cells were strongly labeled with antibodies for glial fibrillary acidic protein and metallothionein. The histopathological diagnosis was malignant schwnnoma. The immunoreactivity for metallothionein might indicate the malignancy.
