Abstract
Most schwannomas originate from the sensory nerves. Hypoglossal schwannomas arise extremely rarely and are usually associated with hypoglossal dysfunction. We herein report a case of intracranial hypoglossal schwannoma associated with the initial symptoms of tongue hemiatrophy.
A 35-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with a chief complaint of swelling on the right side of the tongue. Because we could not locate the swelling, we asked a referred dentist for follow-up. After 6 months, she noticed the swelling again and was referred back to our hospital, whereupon we identified tongue hemiatrophy. An intracranial lesion was suspected, and MRI was performed. A 48-mm-long well-circumscribed lesion was found on the right side of the hypoglossal nerve canal.
The patient was referred to the neurosurgery department of a local hospital, and a brain tumor was diagnosed. The tumor was resected with the patient under general anesthesia, and histopathological examination confirmed a schwannoma.
Postoperatively, right hypoglossal nerve palsy was observed as a sequela. Neither tumor recurrence nor neurological symptoms of another cranial nerve have been found as of one year postoperatively.
