[Infraorbital schwannoma. Case report].

BACKGROUND: Infraorbital schwannoma is a benign tumor of the peripheral nerve seath composed of Schwann cells. Usually occurs between 20 and 70 years of age, are usually asymptomatic and can cause progressive, painless proptosis during growth.

CLINICAL CASE: A 32-year-old male admitted to ophthalmologic hospital with a painless, slowly progressive mass above the left lacrimal sac. At the ophthalmologic examination the tumor had a rubbery consistency and was firmly attached to the surrounding structures. The transillumination was negative. The B mode ultrasound disclosed a phakic eye as well as an infraorbital well-circumscribed homogeneous mass with a largest diameter of 19.7 mm, without involvement of the lacrimal pathway. The A mode ultrasound showed medium-high reflectivity with small internal vascularity. The computed tomography showed a homogeneous wellcircumscribed solid mass anterior and inferior to the left globe without bony erosion. Through subdermic incision the mass was excised. The histopathological diagnosis was "Infraorbital schwannoma".

CONCLUSIONS: The schwannoma is a rare benign tumor in the orbit, few cases have been reported. The definitive diagnosis is made by histopathologic findings as the presence of a true capsule, hyper-and hypocellular areas, thickening and hyalinization of the vessel walls. When these findings are not be confused with benign fusocellular tumors. We report a new case of infraorbital schwannoma and compared it with those cases previously reported.