Primary malignant schwannoma involving simultaneously the right Gasserian ganglion and the distal part of the right mandibular nerve. Case report

A 66-year-old man presented to our Department with trigeminal neuralgia of the third division of the right trigeminal nerve. He also complained of some difficulty in mastication because of a tumour mass in the right lower jaw. A brain CT scan, X-rays of the lower jaw and viscerocranium CT scan revealed a malignant schwannoma of the right Gasserian ganglion involving simultaneously the distal end of the right mandibular nerve. The patient was operated on and has undergone a course of external irradiation. Seven years later, he is living a normal life. The value of the preoperative diagnosis of this extremely rare pathology is discussed because it seems that this tumour is radiosensitive.