Multiple schwannomas / 中华骨科杂志

Objective To study the clinical features and treatment of multiple schwannomas (neurilemmomas). Methods 9 patients with multiple schwannomas treated with surgery from 1975 to 1999 were reviewed retrospectively. Results In 7 of the 9 cases of schwannomas, the number of tumor lesions was seen more than that diagnosed preoperatively. All the patients had surgical resection; 5 had enucleation and 4 had tumors excised with the invovled nerve. Recurrence occured in 4 patients. Conclusion Because of the difficulty in predetermination of the exact lesional number, thoroughly preoperative examination including MRI is nessesary. Enucleation is recommended to those tumors involving important nerves. There is a high rate of recurrence.