Epithelioid schwannoma of the ulnar nerve. Some clinical observations

The authors describe one case of purely epithelioid schwannoma of the ulnar nerve and discuss the therapeutic management. A 44 year-old man was referred to us for a fusiform, movable mass in the left ulnar nerve and was removed by a wide en bloc excision. Intraoperative nerve action potentials were performed both prior to and following excision of the lesion. Histologically, the tumor was composed of round or polygonal cells arranged in necrotic clusters and anastomosing cords. There were areas of spindle cells. The epithelioid cells were round with abundant cytoplasm. Mitoses were frequent. S100 protein immunoreactivity was present diffusely in tumor cells (both nuclear and cytoplasmic), whereas cytokeratin, NSE, and anti-melanoma reactions gave negative results. After a 13 months, the patient's neurological conditions are excellent and there are no signs of either recurrence or metastasis.