Neuroblastoma-like schwannoma of lumbar spinal nerve root

Abstract

Neuroblastoma-like schwannoma is a rare nerve sheath tumor with histological features resembling a neuroblastoma. A comprehensive literature review identified only 10 previous case reports of this condition. The authors present the first reported case of a neuroblastoma-like schwannoma at a spinal nerve root. The patient, a 61-year-old woman, presented with severe pain in the right lower extremity that failed to resolve after conservative management. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural enhancing lesion extending out of the right neural foramen at L1–2. A right L1–2 hemilaminectomy and facetectomy with gross-total resection of the tumor was performed without complications. Neuroblastoma-like schwannoma was diagnosed based on histopathological examination of the biopsied tumor specimen. A postoperative course of serial examination and imaging was chosen based on a suspected benign postoperative course as in the case of a completely resected schwannoma. The authors present the novel case of neuroblastoma-like schwannoma at a lumbar spinal nerve root and describe the distinguishing pathological features of this rare lesion.