Osteoplastic maxillotomy approach for infraorbital nerve schwannoma, a case report.
BACKGROUND
Extracranial schwannomas can readily occur in the head and neck region and rarely involve the trigeminal nerve. As a rule, their treatment is surgical and dictated by the location of the tumor and nerve of origin.


METHODS
We describe a case of a 14-year-old boy with a mass invading right nasal fossa, maxillary sinus, orbital floor, pterygopalatine fossa, and infratemporal fossa. The diagnosis of a nerve sheath tumor was evoked after angiography showed no vascular blush.


RESULTS
The tumor was removed through a Weber-Fergusson incision with subciliary extension followed by maxillozygomatic osteotomy. This approach showed the tumor to be coming from the infraorbital nerve and allowed complete tumor exposure and removal. Pathology confirmed the diagnosis of a schwannoma.


CONCLUSIONS
We describe the osteoplastic maxillotomy approach which we felt most appropriate for removal of the infraorbital schwannoma and discuss other possible surgical options for this type of tumor.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center of Grenoble, Grenoble, France. akarkas@chu-grenoble.fr
Alexandre A
AA
Karkas
Sébastien A
SA
Schmerber
Georges V
GV
Bettega
Emile P
EP
Reyt
Christian A
CA
Righini
D000293:Adolescent; D004954:Esthetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000601:surgery*; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000601:surgery*; D009915:Orbit / Q000294:innervation / Q000601:surgery*; D009918:Orbital Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D015050:Zygoma / Q000601:surgery