Epithelioid schwannoma of the acoustic nerve: a case report

Epithelioid schwannomas mainly affect peripheral nerves and are frequently malignant. They are rarely encountered intracranially. Only five cases involving the eight nerve have been reported in the literature. We report the sixth case of epithelioid schwannoma of the acoustic nerve diagnosed in a 57 year-old woman operated for neurinoma of the right cerebellopontine angle. The patient was readmitted for local recurrence nine months later. Histologically, the tumour was composed of round or polygonal atypic cells associated with spindle cell areas. In our case, the local recurrence, nuclear pleomorphism and especially the high percentage of positive cells with p53 (80%) and Ki67 (30%) antibodies support the aggressive nature of the lesion.