Background: Intraosseous petrous apex schwannomas are an exceedingly rare entity; little is known about their epidemiology, natural history, and postoperative outcomes.
Case description: Here, we present the fourth known case of a primary intraosseous schwannoma of the petrous apex: a 68-year-old woman presenting with diplopia, facial numbness, progressive intermittent vertigo, tinnitus, diminished hearing, and ataxia. She underwent a transtemporal approach for subtotal resection of the tumor with subsequent stereotactic radiosurgery.
Conclusions: Our 2-year follow-up demonstrates slow growth and success of multimodal management in the treatment of these tumors. We review the 3 prior reports of petrous apex schwannomas and identify unifying radiographic and clinical characteristics to aid future diagnostic considerations of lesions of the petrous apex.
Keywords: Intraosseous schwannoma; Petrous apex schwannoma; Radiosurgery; Transtemporal approach.
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