Isolated intraorbital schwannoma arising from the abducens nerve.

Abstract

A case of isolated schwannoma of the orbit, arising from the terminal branches of the abducens nerve to the lateral rectus muscle, is reported. The patient presented with a painless proptosis of the left eye. Preoperative diagnosis of benign intraorbital neoplasm was made by means of CT and MR scans; the mass was radically excised through a microsurgical lateral orbitotomy and the pathological examination revealed a schwannoma. Features of orbital schwannoma are described, together with some details concerning the surgical strategy and the history of the evolution of the lateral orbitotomy.