Unilateral vestibular schwannoma in a patient with schwannomatosis in the absence of LZTR1 mutation

Abstract

The presence of vestibular schwannomas has long been considered an exclusion criterion for the diagnosis of schwannomatosis. Recently, 2 cases of vestibular schwannoma were reported in patients with schwannomatosis, leading to a revision of the diagnostic criteria for this genetic disorder. Overall, the relative infrequency of vestibular schwannomas in schwannomatosis is unexplained, and the genetics of this uncommon phenomenon have not been described. The authors report on a family with clinical manifestations consistent with schwannomatosis, including 4 affected members, that was identified as having an affected member harboring a unilateral cerebellopontine angle mass with extension into the internal auditory canal. Radiologically, this mass was consistent with a vestibular schwannoma and resulted in a symptomatic change in ipsilateral hearing (word recognition 86% at 52 dB) and increased latency of the wave I-V interval on auditory brainstem response testing. The patient was found to be negative for a germline mutation of NF2 and LZTR1, and her affected mother was found to harbor neither NF2 nor SMARCB1 mutations on genetic testing. Although vestibular schwannomas have been classically considered to not occur in the setting of schwannomatosis, this patient with schwannomatosis and a vestibular schwannoma further confirms that schwannomas can occur on the vestibular nerve in this syndrome. Further, this is the first such case found to be negative for a mutation on the LZTR1 gene.

Keywords: LZTR1; NF2 = neurofibromatosis Type 2; cranial nerve; schwannomatosis; vestibular schwannoma.

Fig. 1

Axial T1-weighted MR images showing a right-sided vestibular schwannoma (A) that diminished in size at the end of a 5-year radiographic follow-up period (B), a right-sided trigeminal schwannoma (asterisk, C), and a lumbar schwannoma on the sagittal image (asterisk, D).

Fig. 2

Family pedigree, with affected patients (black) including the current patient (asterisk), sister (multiple spinal schwannomas), mother (resected spinal schwannoma), and maternal grandfather (benign spinal tumor). Circles denote females; squares, males.