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Clin Oral Invest (2011) 15:329335
DOI 10.1007/s00784-010-0389-7
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
A 38-year review of oral schwannomas and neurofibromas in a Brazilian population: clinical, histopathologicaland immunohistochemical study
George Joo Ferreira do Nascimento & Danielle de Albuquerque Pires Rocha &
Hbel Cavalcanti Galvo & Antnio de Lisboa Lopes Costa & Llia Batista de Souza
Received: 20 July 2009 /Accepted: 9 February 2010 /Published online: 9 March 2010 # Springer-Verlag 2010
Abstract The benign peripheral nerve sheath tumours are rare lesions mainly represented by schwannoma and neurofibroma. The present work evaluated the clinical and histopathological features of schwannomas and neurofibromas of the oral cavity diagnosed in a Brazilian population. Among 9.000 cases of oral lesions archived from 1970 to 2008, four schwannomas and 12 neurofibromas were identified, microscopically revised and immunohistochemically certified through a panel including monoclonal antibodies (anti-S100, vimentin, HHF-35 and desmin). From biopsy and histological sections records, clinical and histopathological data were retrieved, reviewed and statistically analysed. Predominantly, schwannomas affected non-white males (3:1), with an age and size averages of34.7 years and 2.8 cm, respectively. Neurofibromas preferentially occurred on the gingival/alveolar ridge of white females
(5:1), with 35.7-year mean age, peak of incidence between 3rd and 5th decade, and size average of 1.7 cm. (12 cases, 75%). The studied tumours exhibited more frequently as a painless, sessile and slow growth very similar to other oral lesions, but their microscopic features differed significantly. Schwannomas and neurofibromas are extremely uncommon in the oral cavity, exhibiting clinical features very similar but specific and peculiar microscopic findings that are useful in the establishment of the diagnosis, which in some particular cases must be confirmed by immunohistochemistry.
Keywords Schwannoma . Neurofibroma . Benign peripheral nerve sheath tumours . Epidemiology. Oral diseases
Introduction
The benign peripheral nerve sheath tumours (BPNSTs) are mainly represented by schwannoma and neurofibroma, and although these tumours are the most common neurogenic tumours, they rarely affect the oral cavity [1-9]. Schwannoma (neurilemmoma or neurinoma) is exclusively composed by neoplastic Schwann cells, and its first description was done by Verocay at 1910 [3]. It is very uncommon, but about 25% to 48% of all cases affect the head and neck region. Preferentially, schwannoma is a solitary, asymptomatic and slow-growth lesion affecting both genders equally, and the average age is...