title: Neuroblastoma-like schwannoma of the skull base: an enigmatic peripheral nerve sheath tumor variant.
abstract: Neuroblastoma-like schwannoma is an extremely rare histological variant of schwannoma, which histologically mimics a malignant small round cell tumor. Only 19 cases have been reported in the literature to date. We report a case of this tumor located at the skull base in a 44-year-old woman who presented with symptoms of right-sided earache and hearing loss. MRI revealed a large, lobulated, extra-axial mass measuring 8.8 cm × 3.6 cm × 4.2 cm in the floor of the middle and posterior cranial fossa. Microscopic examination revealed a perplexing histopathology with peculiar collagenous rosettes. Differential diagnoses included a broad range of benign and malignant tumors. Typical schwannoma seldom poses a difficulty in diagnosis; however, this unusual variant is a diagnostic challenge which requires an extensive clinico-radiological correlation and immunohistochemical work-up. Hence, knowledge of this entity is a must to avoid erroneous diagnosis and inappropriate treatment.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathologyl, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Kavneet
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathologyl, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Aanchal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakkar
authors.affiliation: Otorhinolaryngology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.lastname: Binyaram
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathologyl, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Vaishali
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ajay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Otorhinolaryngology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Suresh C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Bhawani Shankar
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathologyl, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Chitra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathologyl, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Mehar Chand
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D019292:Skull Base Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: collagen; neuroblastoma-like schwannoma; rosettes; skull base; tumor