Hyderabad hospital removes rare schwannoma tumour from 11-year-old

Hyderabad: Twenty-five to forty-five percent of schwannomas, benign tumours of the nervous system, are located in the head and neck. However, maxillary sinus in the sinus and nasal region is extremely uncommon, occurring in only 4% of cases globally, with only eight cases being reported globally as of 2018.

In one such case, a lesion was successfully removed from an 11-year-old boy’s oral cavity by surgeons of GITAM Dental College and the Hospital’s Department of Oral and maxillofacial surgery.

The lesion, which has a high propensity to bleed during surgery, was successfully removed by a group of skilled medical professionals from GITAM Dental College and Hospital. The youngster avoided having a permanent facial scar because of the complex surgery that made the removal feasible.

The lesion and the patient’s eye’s bottom portion were separated by a thin membrane. The procedure was not only expensive but also challenging. The chance of vision loss or bleeding into the eye had to be considered, as well as the potential for accidentally breaking the patient’s upper jaw during the treatment. It was unlikely that the post-operative care would be an easy process either.

The medical staff of GITAM Dental College, however, addressed the issue with assurance. The head of the oral and maxillofacial surgery department, Dr. Satya Bhushan, said, “Our unit has a unique specialisation that deals with such facial tumours coming from teeth and other facial tissues. These experts are scarce, and there aren’t many private practices where they may be found. But for the past 22 years, GITAM Dental College has had this reputable department.”

Along with post-graduate students, doctors Sindhuja, Kalyan, Raghu Ram, and Harshini, the operating room team of doctors also included doctors Satya Bhushan and U. Siva Kalyan.

“We chose an intra-oral operation over an extra-oral procedure, which would have left a scar on the face and is a cosmetic way to remove the lesion from inside the mouth. Although the intraoral approach is challenging to use, the decision was made with the patient’s age in mind,” said Dr. Siva Kalyan.

A technique known as Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) was used to make the first diagnosis of the lesion and identify the Central Giant Cell Granuloma (lesion). The pathological and microscopic investigation of the tissue growth revealed that it was a schwannoma, a rare cancer of the nerve system after the GITAM Dental College medical team surgically removed the tumour.

The patient was briefly taken to the ICU following surgery. Just four days after the procedure, the young boy was healthy enough to be released. His rehabilitation went without a hitch.

What is Schwannoma?

A Schwannoma is a tumour of the peripheral nervous system or nerve root that develops from cells called Schwann cells. Symptoms of a Schwannoma may include a lump or bump, pain, muscle weakness, tingling, numbness, hearing problems, and/or facial paralysis. In some cases, a Schwannoma is caused by a genetic disorder such as neurofibromatosis 2, Schwannomatosis, or Carney complex.

Population Estimate: This illness affects fewer than 50,000 persons in India.

Symptoms: May begin to show up in adults and older adults.

Cause: Uncontrolled cell proliferation and division that harms tissue is the root of this illness.

Category: Cancer, Neurological disease.