Case Report

A Rare Case of a Schwannoma in the Dorsal Aspect of the Foot: A Case Report of an 18-Year-Old Man with an Ankle Mass

Abstract

Background: Neurilemmomas also called schwannomas are benign tumors originating from the Schwann cells participating in the peripheral nerve sheath and the pathophysiology of the formation of these tumors is not completely understood. Schwannomas are mostly benign with equal incidence rate in men and women. These tumors have been mainly found in the head and neck, upper extremities, and the trunk. Lower extremity schwannomas are extremely rare, specifically in the dorsum of the foot.

Case Report: In this report, we present an 18-year-old man referred to surgery clinic with a painful mass on the anterolateral dorsal aspect of his left ankle with radicular pain and paresthesia to the distal dorsum of the forefoot. After completing all the assessments including ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), he underwent the surgical resection procedure. The pathology laboratory reported an encapsulated 35 * 20 * 15 mm solitary benign schwannoma.

Conclusion: The dorsal aspect of the foot is an extremely rare site for schwannoma formation, but practitioners should always be aware of rare underlying diseases for neurologic deficits or just a simple pain in the lower extremities.

1. Daniel M, Waters D, Chen C, Brouyette N. Posterior tibial nerve schwannoma in a multiple myeloma patient: A case report. SAGE Open Med Case Rep. 2019;7:2050313X19838441. doi: 10.1177/2050313X19838441. [PubMed: 31007915]. [PubMed Central: PMC6458660].
2. Hallahan K, Vinokur J, Demski S, Faulkner-Jones B, Giurini J. Tarsal tunnel syndrome secondary to schwannoma of the posterior tibial nerve. J Foot Ankle Surg. 2014;53(1):79-82. doi: 10.1053/j.jfas.2012.12.020. [PubMed: 23954095].
3. Provenzano L, Ryan Y, Hilton DA, Lyons-Rimmer J, Dave F, Maze EA, et al. Cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) in the development of Merlin-deficient tumours. Oncogene. 2017;36(44):6132-42. doi: 10.1038/onc.2017.200. [PubMed: 28692055].
4. Albert P, Patel J, Badawy K, Weissinger W, Brenner M, Bourhill I, et al. Peripheral nerve schwannoma: A review of varying clinical presentations and imaging findings. J Foot Ankle Surg. 2017;56(3):632-7. doi: 10.1053/j.jfas.2016.12.003. [PubMed: 28237565].
5. Garner HW, Wilke BK, Fritchie K, Bestic JM. Epithelioid schwannoma: imaging findings on radiographs, MRI, and ultrasound. Skeletal Radiol. 2019;48(11):1815-20. doi: 10.1007/s00256-019-03199-9. [PubMed: 30903261].
6. Judd T, Jones T, Thornberry L. Schwannoma of the posterior tibial nerve: Case study. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 2014;104(5):539-43. doi: 10.7547/0003-0538-104.5.539. [PubMed: 25275747].
7. Merritt G, Ramil M, Oxios A, Rushing C. Schwannoma of the plantarmedial aspect of the foot: A case report. Foot (Edinb). 2019;39:85-7. doi: 10.1016/j.foot.2019.03.005. [PubMed: 30981128].
8. Talebi S, Sheibani S, Teimourey A, Dehghan M. Carpal tunnel syndrome secondary to the lipoma mass: A case report and review of literature. J Orthop Spine Trauma 2021; 7(4): 159-61. doi: 10.18502/jost.v7i4.8866.
9. Jacobson GF, Edwards MC. Neurilemoma presenting as a painless mass on the dorsum of the foot. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc. 1993;83(4):228-30. doi: 10.7547/87507315-83-4-228. [PubMed: 8473995].
10. Nkaoui M, Sasbou Y. Entrapment neuropathy in the foot revealing schwannoma of the superficial peroneal nerve: outcome of conservative surgical treatment. Pan Afr Med J. 2017;28:161. [In French]. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2017.28.161.12439. [PubMed: 29541307]. [PubMed Central: PMC5847051].
11. Tiwari V, Dwidmuthe S, Meshram N. A solitary benign schwannoma of the medial dorsal cutaneous nerve of the foot masquerading as a ganglion cyst. Cureus. 2021;13(7):e16141. doi: 10.7759/cureus.16141. [PubMed: 34354882]. [PubMed Central: PMC8328047].
Files
IssueVol 8, No 3 (2022) QRcode
SectionCase Report
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/jost.v8i3.9911
Keywords
Neurilemmoma Lower Extremity Schwann Cells Soft Tissue Neoplasms
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Ahmadinejad M, Rashidi S, Kahrizi M saeed, Moghadasi F, Ahmadinejad I, Najafi A. A Rare Case of a Schwannoma in the Dorsal Aspect of the Foot: A Case Report of an 18-Year-Old Man with an Ankle Mass. J Orthop Spine Trauma. 2022;8(3):101-3.