title: Accelerated growth of an orbital schwannoma during pregnancy.
abstract: An incidentally diagnosed unilateral orbital mass in a 34-year-old woman grew at an accelerated rate during pregnancy with deterioration of visual function. Removed early after delivery by a transcranial approach, the tumor was histologically diagnosed as a richly vascularized cystic schwannoma containing red blood cell components. The accelerated tumor growth was attributed to intratumoral hemorrhage. Although acoustic schwannomas have been reported to enlarge during pregnancy, this phenomenon has only been described once for orbital schwannomas. Because this type of tumor may enlarge during pregnancy and threaten visual function, surgery should not be delayed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Toho University Omori Medical Center, Omori-nishi, Ota-ku, Tokyo, Japan. nsugo@med.toho-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sugo
authors.forename: Kyousuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hatori
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Syozo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Yoshikatsu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seiki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008866:Microsurgery; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013508:Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D009918:Orbital Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014792:Visual Acuity