Primary retroperitoneal schwannoma

Abstract

Primary retroperitoneal tumors are rare. Schwannoma or neurilemmoma is a benign tumor formed from the Schwann cells, which rarely has a retroperitoneal location. The article describes the diagnosis of a retroperitoneal schwannoma in a patient who received surgical treatment at the “Manuel Ascunce Domenech” Hospital of Camagüey, Cuba. This is a 33-year-old white female patient with a past medical history. She visited the department of surgery complaining of an increase in volume in the right hemiabdomen, of six months of progress, accompanied by moderate pain, radiating to the lumbar region and right iliac fossa, which was not relieved with analgesics or at rest. There was also inflammation of the lower limbs. Physical examination revealed: asymmetric abdomen, painful on deep palpation of the hypochondrium and right iliac fossa, 12 cm tumor, with firm and irregular consistency, adhered to deep planes, and decreased hydro-aerial noises in this region. She was admitted with the diagnosis of a right abdominal tumor for study. The abdominal echography reported: a right kidney with a marked dilation, of hydronephrotic appearance due to compression of another large right structure, with cystic appearance, heterogeneous content and echogenic elements that suggested a cystic teratoma. She received a satisfactory surgical treatment and was discharged eight days after surgery. By the histopathologic study a benign schwannoma-type mesenchymal tumor with cystic degeneration was diagnosed.