Neurilemmomas are rare benign tumors of the oral cavity originating in the sheath of Schwann. Intraoral neurilemmomas are frequently located in the tongue in the head and neck region; rarely, they have been found in the base of the tongue. Ultrastructural studies of neurilemmomas provide morphological evidence supporting the concept that these lesions originate from Schwann cells. We treated a patient with a solitary neurilemmoma in the right side of the base of the tongue and investigated the features of this tumor by electron microscopy.
The patient was a 17-year-old boy with a solitary mass in the right side of the base of the tongue. The mass measured 10×10×8mm. The lesion had a clearly demarcated border and was hard and elastic. The mass was surgically resected with the patient under local anesthesia. The histopathological diagnosis was neurilemmoma. Ultrastructural studies showed a complicated interdigitation of cytoplasmic processes, a continuous basal lamina, and Luse bodies. These findings suggest that the tumor originated from Schwann cells.
