Schwannomas are the nerve sheath tumors arising from schwann cells of the peripheral nerves. In the presence of multiple schwannomas of peripheral nerves, neurofibromatosis type 2 should be suspected. Brain MRI and the slit-lamp examination are necessary to eliminate neurofibromatosis type 1 and type 2 diagnostic criteria. The diagnosis of schwannomatosis is based on the presence of multiple peripheral nerve tumors composed exclusively of schwannomas without involvement of the vestibular nerve, at above 30 years old. There are three definitions of schwannomatosis in the literature; sporadic, familial and segmental schwannomatosis. Treatment is enucleation of the tumors by microsurgical techniques without damage to the fascicular structure of the nerve. Especially, schwannomatosis of the digital nerves of the hand is extremely rare in the literature. In this article we present a 47-year-old female patient with sporadic segmental schwannomatosis of the digital nerves of her right hand and share our experience of surgery and follow-up, which may be contributive.
Key words: schwannomatosis; digital nerves; hand tumors; peripheral nerve sheath tumors
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