INFANTILE SCHWANNOMA OF THE MAXILLARY SINUS

A rare case of a 5-year-old female with schwannoma of the maxillary si nus is presented. She had complained of painless swelling of the left cheek and hard palate for a duration of one year. Preoperatively, a CT scan strongly suggested it to be a maxillary cyst with an erupted too th rather than neoplasm. The tumour was completely removed after embol ization of the left internal maxillary artery. The tumour was composed of spindle cells in a palisading pattern and intercellular collagenou s fibres. Mitotic figures and atypical nuclei were not observed. Immun ohistochemically, the majority of the cells were positive for NSE and S-100 protein, whereas GFA and PCNA showed little immunoreaction. The pathological diagnosis was Antony type A of schwannoma arising in the maxillary sinus. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.