Intracranial schwannomas most commonly occur in relation to vestibular nerves followed
by trigeminal nerves. Authors describe a very unusual case of schwannomas originating
in lateral recess of the fourth ventricle. Tumor was completely excised micro-surgically
via midline suboccipital craniectomy and C1 laminectomy. Dissection of the surgical
specimen revealed that the tumor was completely free from surrounding structures and
just hanging in the fourth ventricle. It was not attached to any cranial nerves, brain
parenchyma, and blood vessel or to the dura mater. Histopathological examination confirmed
the diagnosis of schwannoma. To our knowledge, no such case has been reported so far
from this extremely rare location. Relevant literature is reviewed and hypothesis
for ectopic location of these tumors has been highlighted.
Key-words:
Lateral recess - posterior fossa - schwannomas
