Intraneural Granular Cell Tumor of a Cervical Dorsal Nerve Root: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.
BACKGROUND
Granular cell tumor (GCT) is a relatively uncommon predominantly benign lesion that usually presents as a solitary, painless cutaneous or submucosal nodule. Most of these tumors are found in the tongue. Although GCT is believed to have a Schwann cell origin, reports of GCT in peripheral and spinal nerves are uncommon.


METHODS
We report the case of a 43-year-old man with neck pain and hand numbness who was found to have a heterogeneously enhancing left-sided C2 nerve sheath tumor on magnetic resonance imaging. He underwent C2 decompression and resection of the left-sided C2 nerve sheath tumor with subsequent C1-C2 arthrodesis and instrumentation. Histopathologic review showed GCT. Review of the literature yielded 4 other reported cases of GCT within the vicinity of a spinal nerve root. Only one of these explicitly showed spinal nerve root involvement. This is a rare case of a GCT presenting as cervical nerve root mass, and what we believe is the first reported case of this in the literature.


CONCLUSIONS
The surgeon should be aware of GCT when encountering spinal nerve root tumors because it may alter the surgical approach necessary for adequate resection compared with more commonly encountered nerve sheath tumors.
Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Electronic address: cheng.ronron@gmail.com.
Ron Ron
RR
Cheng
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Jessica A
JA
Forcucci
Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Stephen P
SP
Kalhorn
D000328:Adult; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae; D016586:Granular Cell Tumor / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery*; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots
Cervical spine; Granular cell tumor; Nerve sheath tumor; Spinal nerve root