MULTINODULAR VERSUS PLEXIFORM NEURILEMOMA OF THE HARD PALATE - REPORTOF A CASE

Neurilemoma (schwannoma) is the most commonly encountered nerve sheath tumor of the oral cavity. It generally appears as a single encapsulat ed nodule that occasionally causes pain or discomfort. The tongue is i nvolved most frequently, followed by the palate, floor of mouth, and b uccal mucosa. Neurilemomas occur most often during the second or third decades of life. Our patient is a 21-year-old woman with a recurrence of a palatal mass that was excised 3 years earlier. Histologically th e lesion appeared to be a multinodular neurilemoma, a pattern rarely r eported in the oral cavity.