Two case reports: Breast schwannoma and a rare case of an axillary schwannoma imitating an axillary lymph node metastasis

Abstract

A 79-year-old woman with a newly detected oval circumscribed lump in subcutaneous location on mammography and ultrasound turned out to be a Schwannoma after ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy. A 72-year-old woman with breast cancer in medical history demonstrated a new axillary mass in follow up, initially regarded as a lymph node metastasis. Core needle biopsy did not lead to a sufficient diagnosis. Pathologic examination after intraoperative sampling revealed a Schwannoma. These 2 case reports illustrate the importance of diagnostic imaging and remind to include Schwannomas in the differential diagnosis of breast and axillary masses.

Keywords

• Breast
• Axilla
• Schwannoma
• Mammography
• MRI
• Ultrasound