title: Intraorbital abducens nerve schwannoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Schwannomas of the abducens nerve are extremely rare tumors. The tumor may be located within the cavernous sinus or more often at the prepontine region. However, literature research has identified only one case of isolated schwannoma of the orbit, arising from the terminal branches of the abducens nerve to the lateral rectus muscle. This is only the second report of an abducens nerve schwannoma located entirely intraconal.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report a case of an intraorbital abducens nerve schwannoma in a 42-year-old man with no signs of neurofibromatosis. The lesion resulted in progressive diplopia and focal abducens palsy. The clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features are presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We point the particular aspects and discuss the possible treatments and approaches to preserve nerve function.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Being a benign lesion, one of the goals has always been total removal. The knowledge of the correct anatomic features made us believe that the VI nerve function could be preserved. Our case is the first example of a total removal with eye abduction preserved. Because of that, we believe that it is reasonable to aim for these goals in future cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central EPE, Lisboa, Portugal. ruimfrato@gmail.com
authors.forename: Rui Miguel Ferreira
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rato
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.forename: João Paulo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Pedro Sutil
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Roque
mesh_terms: D020434:Abducens Nerve Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009918:Orbital Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery