Usefulness of T2*-weighted MR sequence for the diagnosis of subfrontal schwannoma

Abstract

Subfrontal schwannomas are rare tumors that are usually diagnosed during surgery. They are often misdiagnosed as meningioma or esthesioneuroblastoma because of their similar clinical and radiological features. We report a case of schwannoma arising from the floor of the anterior cranial fossa that had radiological features similar to that of meningioma. However, T2*-weighted MR imaging revealed multiple foci of Low signal intensities within the tumor related to microbleeds, which suggested a diagnosis of schwannoma that was confirmed by histopathology. This case report demonstrates the usefulness of T2*-weighted sequence in distinguishing meningioma from schwannoma, especially in cases where the tumor has an unusual location. (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.