title: Schwannoma of the breast: report of a case.
abstract: This report describes a rare case of a schwannoma that developed in the left breast of a 45-year-old woman without von Recklinghausen's disease. The patient complained of a mass growing slowly in her breast for more than 4 years. She did not have any pain and denied any discharge from her nipple. A physical examination revealed a 3.1 x 2.3-cm, elastic-soft, smooth, and mobile lump close to the nipple of the left breast. Mammography revealed a circumscribed, oval-shaped, and equal dense nodule without microcalcification. On ultrasonography the lesion was found to be a well-demarcated, hypoechoic mass including a large cystic area, which led to the suspicion of a phyllodes tumor. An excisional biopsy was performed. A microcopic examination revealed a structure with interlacing bundles of numerous elongated spindle-shaped cells with a typical palisading pattern. These findings were compatible with schwannoma. A review of the English literature yielded 21 proven cases of breast schwannoma. In this report, we describe another such case and review those documented in the literature.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Surgery, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokoo
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuwano
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D017697:Premenopause; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary