ACOUSTIC SCHWANNOMA WITH INTRATUMORAL HEMORRHAGE – REPORT OF AN UNUSUAL COMPLICATION

Abstract

Acoustic Schwannoma is a benign neoplasm of the 8th cranial nerve pair, and accounts for 8-10% of all intracranial tumors. Intratumoral haemorrhage is unusual in these tumors and can lead to hydrocephalus or aggravate a preexisting condition. This paper reports a case of acoustic Schwannoma in a child with intratumoral hemorrhage that lead patient to death. Female patient, 9 years old, presented anacusis on the right, sudden, progressing with vomiting, intense headache and vertigo. Magnetic resonance imaging of the skull showed expansive lesion in the cistern of the right cerebellar angle, with content inside the internal auditory canal, with compression of the adjacent brain stem. The diagnostic hypothesis was acoustic Schwannoma. It progressed with worsening of headache, initially controlled with medication and later loss of consciousness. Computed tomography of the skull revealed an expansive lesion in the cistern of the right cerebellar angle with signs of bleeding with extension to the ventricular system. External ventricular shunt was performed, but the patient evolved with several complications, septic shock and death. Intratumoral hemorrhage in the acoustic Schwannoma is a rare event, but its occurrence worsens the clinical picture and may lead to death of the patients due to intracranial hypertension.