Journal of Surgical Technique and Case Report
Journal of Surgical Technique and Case Report
CASE REPORT
Year : 2015  |  Volume : 7  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 17-19

Malignant transformation of vagal nerve schwannoma in to angiosarcoma: A rare event


1 Department of Otolaryngology and Head, Neck Surgery, Ganga Ram Institute of Post Graduate and Medical Research, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India
2 Department of Pathology, Division of Histopathology, Ganga Ram Institute of Post Graduate and Medical Research, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India

Correspondence Address:
Sangeet Kumar Agarwal
Department of Otolaryngology and Head, Neck Surgery, Ganga Ram Institute of Post Graduate and Medical Research, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi
India
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/2006-8808.184941

Rights and Permissions

Schwannomas are benign, rare peripheral nerve sheath tumors that occur in the head and neck region. Some physicians opt to closely observe cases of schwannoma of the neck on an outpatient basis rather than to perform radical surgery. However, there is a possibility, albeit rare, of malignant transformation of a benign schwannoma. Here, we are reporting the first case from the Indian subcontinent which was transformed into the angiosarcoma from benign vagal schwannoma over a long period. A 47-year-old male patient complaining of left sided neck swelling since last 12 years, swelling was insidious in onset, gradually progressive very slowly. In last 2 months, the size of the swelling was suddenly increased. On examination, there was an approximately 6 cm × 6 cm of size, firm, nodular, well-defined, nontender swelling in the left lateral part of the neck. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) revealed paraganglioma and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated very clearly a tumor, its morphology, and its relation to the surrounding structures, the tumor was thought to be a vagal schwannoma. Surgery was done, and the whole of the tumor was removed in toto. On final histopathological diagnosis, the tumor was proved to be angiosarcoma developed from vagal schwannoma. Postoperative chemotherapy was given but due to distant metastasis, the patient died. Long standing neck masses can convert into malignancy as in our case, therefore, work up of the patient should be done properly. Multiple FNAC should be done because single FNAC can give the false negative result as in our case. This was our diagnostic drawback not to do multiple computed tomography guided FNAC.


[FULL TEXT] [PDF]*
Print this article     Email this article
 Next article
 Previous article
 Table of Contents

 Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
 Citation Manager
 Access Statistics
 Reader Comments
 Email Alert *
 Add to My List *
 * Requires registration (Free)
 

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed655    
    Printed5    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded32    
    Comments [Add]    

Recommend this journal