Ancient schwannoma of oral cavity: A case report

Introduction: Ancient schwannoma is a rare variant of schwannoma that rarely occurs in the oral cavity. Histologically it can be confused with a malignant mesenchymal tumor. Therefore it is important to differentiate them from each other. Case report: The patient was a 40 – year – old male with the complaint of a painless gradual swelling in the left side of the mandibular lingual gingiva for about 5 years. No sign of bone resorption was found in periapical radiographs. After the excision of lesion, histopathologic examination showed proliferation of Schwann cells, degenerative changes including nuclear atypia, hyalinization and myxoid areas and calcification. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed strong positive staining for S-100 protein. All these features were consistent with diagnosis of ancient schwannoma.