• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.388-391
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• 2019

Schwannoma is a slow-growing, well-demarcated, benign soft tissue tumor of the peripheral nerve sheath. It commonly develops in the head and neck region, usually in the parapharyngeal space. In this case, a 42-year-old woman visited the outpatient department to manage a painless mass on her left cheek. She had no history of concern and no neurological symptoms were observed. In the enhanced computed tomography scan, a 2.8×2.8×1.8 cm, heterogeneously enhanced tumor was detected in the left masseter muscle. A tumor resection under general anesthesia was planned. For the resection, a facelift incision was chosen; branches of the facial nerve were identified and retrogradely dissected. A well-marginated, yellowish, solid mass was found in the left masseter muscle. The mass was excised and given a histopathological diagnosis of schwannoma. A definite diagnosis of schwannoma, originating in the masseter muscle, is difficult to arrive at with radiographic findings alone; it is often misdiagnosed as intramuscular hemangioma. Histopathological examinations, including fine-needle aspiration or histological biopsy after surgery, are necessary. Using a facelift incision with retrograde facial nerve dissection, tumor resection in an intramasseteric lesion can be performed efficiently, without nerve damage, or leaving conspicuous scars on the face.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.103-106
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• 2009

Intracranial schwannomas preferentially arise from the vestibular branch of the eighth nerve, and rarely from the trigeminal nerve, facial nerve, and lower cranial nerves. Anterior cranial fossa schwannomas are extremely uncommon and few details about them have been reported. The patient was a 39-year-old woman whose chief complaints were anosmia and frontal headache for 2 years. The gadolinium (Gd)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an extra-axial mass from ethmoid sinus to right frontal base region near the midline, with solid enhancement in lower portion and multicystic formation in upper portion. The tumor was totally resected via basal subfrontal approach. At operation, the tumor had cystic portion with marginal calcification and the anterior skull base was destructed by the tumor. The olfactory bulb was involved, and the tumor capsule did not contain neoplastic cells. The histopathological diagnosis was schwannoma. We report a rare case of anterior cranial fossa schwannoma with literature review.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.494-498
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• 2009

Schwannomas are tumors which originate from the neuroectodermal Schwann cell of cranial, intraspinal, peripheral and autonomic nerve sheaths, and they are solitary, benign, slow growing and well encapsulated neoplasm. Schwannomas are usually asymptomatic. No strong gender or age predominance exists. The incidence of extracranial schwannomas in the head and the neck region varies from 25~45%. In addition, schwannomas are rare in the maxillary sinus or buccal space. In this paper, it diagnosed and treated a 54-years old female patient, who had schwannoma in the maxillary sinus derived from infraorbital nerves, the branch of the left trigeminal nerve, and a 19-years old male patient, who had schwannoma arose in the buccal space derived from the buccal branch of the right facial nerve. There was no particular complication except sensory extinction of the nerve in the female patient and paralysis by the nerve in the male patient. It is determined those two cases of schwannoma in the rare portion is valuable and herein, it reports those with literature discussions.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.551-558
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to develop an aproach to diagnosis and treatment of sequelae after removal of vestibular schwannoma through Oriental Medicine. An eighty year-old woman with sequelae after removal of vestibular schwannoma was observed and treated. She had difficulty of hearing, facial nerve palsy, dizziness and was generally weak. She was treated with herb medications for these symptoms. Having been treated for 27 days in hospital her symptoms improved. This report provides evidence for application of herbal medicine in treatment of sequelae. However, more cases are required for an in depth study of oriental treatments for this ailment in order to open this method of treatment to general application.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1308-1313
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• 2001

Object : The goals of radiosurgery include preservation of neurological function and prevention of tumor growth. We document the results of gamma-knife radio-surgery for vestibular schwannoma. Method & Object : Eighty-two patients underwent stereotactic radiosurgery for an vestibular schwannoma from October, 1994 to December, 2000. Sixty-five of these patients were followed up for radiological and clinical evaluation. As pregamma-knife modality, surgical resection were done in 23 patients,and V-P shunt in 2 patients. Initial symptoms were headache(n=45), dizziness(n=16), tinnitus(n=17). While normal facial function(House-Brackmann grade 1) was present in 48 patients(73.8%), other patients showed grade 2 function in 8, grade 3 function in 7,and grade 4 function in 2. The Gardner/Robertson scale was used to code hearing function. Male to female ratio was 1:3. Mean tumor volume was $7.98cm^3$. Mean dose delivered to the tumor margin was 14.2Gy,and mean maximal dose was 28.3Gy. Results : Mean follow-up duration of 19.9 months. Thirty-five showed decrease(53.8%) in size, 19 patients(29.2%) stationary, 3(4.6%) initial decrease follow up increase, 5(7.6%) initial increase follow up decrease,and 59 patients (90.8%) were well controlled. Two patients experienced transient facial neuropathy, one transient trigeminal neuropathy, and one transient hearing deterioration. After gamma-knife radiosurgery, ventriculoperitoneal shunt was done in 4 patients. Conclusions : Gamma-knife radiosurgery can be used to treat postoperative residual tumors as well as in patients with concomitant medical problems in patients with preserved hearing function. Gamma-knife radiosurgery is safe and effective method to treat small, medium sized(less than 3cm in extracanalicular diameter), intracanalicular vestibular schwannoma, associated with low rate of cranial neuropathy.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.113-117
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• 2000

A neurilemmoma of the facial nerve presenting as a parotid mass is a rare neoplasm and has been reported infrequently in the surgical literature. Diagnosis is usually by tissue biopsy intraoperatively and treatment is surgical with preservetion of facial function. This is a case of a solitary neurilemmoma involving the main trunk of the facial nerve in the posterior part of parotid gland continuing up to vertical segment of the facial nerve, in which the facial nerve had to be sacrificed and free autogenous nerve grafting was done.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.755-760
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• 2001

Objective : To determine the feasibility of translabyrinthine approach in the vestibular schwannoma patients, the authors reviewed eighteen consecutive cases, focusing at their functional outcome and operative complications. Materials and Method : To evaluate the functional outcome, we reviewed preoperative radiological findings such as size of tumors and location of jugular bulb as well as the preoperative neurological status including audiometric analysis and cranial nerve function in 18 patients, diagnosed as vestibular schwannoma. Also the surgical outcome was evaluated according to the functional preservation of facial nerve and incidence of the surgical complication as well as the extent of surgical resection. Results : The age of patients ranged from 21 to 62 years, with a mean of 50 years. Of 18 patients operated in our center by the translabyrinthine approach, wide exposure with total removal of the mass was possible in 16 cases (88.8%). The facial nerve was anatomically preserved in 88.8%. At six-month follow-up, facial nerve function was good(Grade I-II) in 15 patients(83%) and acceptable(I-IV) in all patients. Although the jugular bulb was highly placed is five patients, gross total resection was possible without facial nerve injury in all patients by the translabyrinthine approach. One patient experienced CSF leakage after surgery, but there was no patient with disabling deficit. Conclusion : Use of the translabyrinthine approach for removal of vestibular schwannomas resulted in good anatomical and functional preservation of the facial nerve, with minimal incidence of morbidity and no mortality. In cases of high jugular bulb impacted into mastoid bone, total removal was possible by displacing the jugular bulb with Surgicel cellulose and placement of bone wax.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.123-126
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• 2019

Vestibular schwannoma, also known as acoustic neuroma, is a rare benign brainstem tumor surrounding the vestibular division of the 8th cranial nerve. The presenting symptoms are hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness. Unabated growth can compress 5th (trigeminal nerve) and 7th (facial nerve) cranial nerve, which can cause nerve dysfunction such as orofacial pain, sensory abnormalities, or trigeminal neuralgia. We report a 51-year-old woman who presented with orofacial dysesthesia on her left side of the face with abnormal findings on 5th cranial nerve and 8th (vestibulocochlear nerve) cranial nerve examination. Brain magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed cerebellopontine angle tumor. She was referred to a neurosurgeon and diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2014

Objective : Facial nerve palsy is a common complication of treatment for vestibular schwannoma (VS), so preserving facial nerve function is important. The preoperative visualization of the course of facial nerve in relation to VS could help prevent injury to the nerve during the surgery. In this study, we evaluate the accuracy of diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) for preoperative identification of facial nerve. Methods : We prospectively collected data from 11 patients with VS, who underwent preoperative DTT for facial nerve. Imaging results were correlated with intraoperative findings. Postoperative DTT was performed at postoperative 3 month. Facial nerve function was clinically evaluated according to the House-Brackmann (HB) facial nerve grading system. Results : Facial nerve courses on preoperative tractography were entirely correlated with intraoperative findings in all patients. Facial nerve was located on the anterior of the tumor surface in 5 cases, on anteroinferior in 3 cases, on anterosuperior in 2 cases, and on posteroinferior in 1 case. In postoperative facial nerve tractography, preservation of facial nerve was confirmed in all patients. No patient had severe facial paralysis at postoperative one year. Conclusion : This study shows that DTT for preoperative identification of facial nerve in VS surgery could be a very accurate and useful radiological method and could help to improve facial nerve preservation.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.450-454
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• 2007

Objective : The aim of this study was to identify the anatomical location and course of the facial nerve (FN) and their relationship to the tumor size in surgically treated vestibular schwannomas. Methods : A retrospective study was conducted on 163 patients who had been treated by the microsurgical resection for a newly diagnosed vestibular schwannoma between 1995 and 2005 (mean age of 46.1 years; 108 females and 55 males). Surgery was carried out via retrosigmoid approach in all patients with the electromyographic monitoring for the FN function. The anatomical location and course of the FN along the tumor surface were verified in each patient during the microsurgery, and were classified into 4 groups : 1) the FN displaced along the ventral and superior surface of the tumor (VS); 2) the ventral and central (VC); 3) the ventral and inferior (VI); and 4) the dorsal (Do). Results : The FN displacement was identified as the followings : VS in 91 patients (55.8%); VC in 57 (35.0%); VI in 14 (8.6%); and Do in 1 (0.6%). In the subgroup with tumors less than 2 cm in diameter (n=23), the FN was displaced along the ventral and central surface of the tumor in the majority (65.2%), whereas, in the patients with tumors larger than 2cm (n=140), it was displaced along the ventral and superior surface most frequently (59.3%). Conclusion : The FN can be displaced variably in vestibular schwannomas, and most frequently along the ventral and superior surface of the tumor, especially in large ones.