Hepatic schwannoma: Imaging findings on CT, MRI and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography

Abstract

Metastases of esophageal carcinoma to the skeletal muscle are rare, but the incidence may be increasing because of better diagnosis resulting from widespread use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). A cohort of 205 patients with esophageal carcinoma treated at our center who had PET/CT between 2006 and 2010 was retrospectively evaluated for the presence of skeletal muscle metastases. Four patients had skeletal muscle metastases of esophageal carcinoma, including two patients with squamous cell carcinoma. In another patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and synchronous skeletal muscle metastases, muscle metastases were subsequently shown to be related to second primary pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In all cases, skeletal muscle metastases were the first manifestation of systemic disease. In three patients palliation was obtained with the combination of external beam radiation therapy, systemic chemotherapy or surgical resection. Skeletal muscle metastases are a rare complication of esophageal carcinoma.

Hepatic schwannoma: A case report and an updated 40-year review of the literature yielding 30 cases

“…As described previously, the majority of patients were admitted with the complaint of pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen or epigastrium (5). In the present study, 8 patients were asymptomatic, whose liver tumors were found during routine examination or the follow-up when combined with other diseases.…”

“…However, since hepatic schwannoma is such a rare finding, a definitive diagnosis by radiological methods is difficult. Liver biopsy may be useful for accurate preoperative diagnosis (5,6).…”

Primary hepatic schwannoma: A case report

“…Although a schwannoma may arise from any organ that contains peripheral nerves, primary hepatic schwannomas are extremely rare. According to English medical literature, only 19 cases of hepatic schwannoma, including the presently reported case, have been documented (Table 1) [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18]. These 19 cases consisted of 9 men (47.1%) and 10 women (52.9%), with a median age of 56 years (range, 21–83 years).…”

“…These radiological findings are consistent with those of typical acoustic schwannomas or schwannomas originating in more common locations. Ota et al [14] reported that contrast enhanced US was useful in diagnosing hepatic schwannoma and it showed minute arterial flow into the tumor along the nodal septum during the vascular phase and the delayed enhancement of solid areas during the postvascular phase. Although the radiological characteristics of the present tumor were similar to those of schwannoma when considered retrospectively, a precise diagnosis of primary hepatic schwannoma is still considered to be difficult because of the extreme rarity of this tumor and its radiological similarity to a mucus-producing tumor or adenocarcinoma.…”

Elastographic and contrast-enhanced ultrasound features of a benign schwannoma of the common fibular nerve

“…However, only one study describes a rare case of hepatic schwannoma studied with CEUS [7] and only one case of leydigioma studied with both CEUS and US-elastography has been reported [8].…”