Trigeminal Nerve’s Schwannoma - Review of Two Cases

Introduction: Trigeminal nerve’s schwannomas are rare, benign neoplasms. There are very difficult to threat and diagnose, because of the exclusive rareness, abnormal position and slow development. Aim: To present 2 cases that has been treated in the Department of Neurosurgery Tokuda Hospital, Sofia and to compare the results with the literature. Material and Methods: Case 1: Male, 52 years old. From 2 years headache, partial seizures. CT and MRI scan- frontal and skull base located tumor formation. Surgical treatment combined intra/extradural transcranial approach.6 years after the treatment no complains and no recedive formation on the CT scan. Case 2: Male, 34 years old. 2 seizures. CT and MRI scan - intra/extra cranial formation. Surgical treatment - extradural approach with total removal of the lesion. Discussion: Trigeminal schwannomatosis arise from Shwan’s cells. They may occur along the nerve from the pontocerebellar angle till the skin branches. Their frequency is 0,07% to 0,28% from all intracranial tumors. Trigeminal nerve’s shwanomas achieve giant sizes. The localization and the size complicate the surgery treatments which have no alternative at present. Conclusion: Trigeminal nerve’s schwannomas are benign, slow growing tumors. They may develop from each part of the nerve or their branches and may reach huge sizes. Their treatment is exclusively surgical. Radical achievement is difficult. The early diagnosis is the most important factor for the radical surgery and for the good postoperative results.