Summary: | Benign tumors of the temporal bone are extremely rare, with an incidence of 1 in 200,000 individuals. The authors report a case of an 8-year-old girl with facial nerve schwannoma (FNS) involving the mastoid portion of her facial nerve. She initially presented with exam findings of postauricular swelling and tenderness mimicking acute infectious mastoiditis. During mastoidectomy, intraoperative frozen pathology revealed spindle cells consistent with FNS, and surgery was aborted. This is the first report of FNS mimicking acute infectious mastoiditis. Presenting symptoms are reviewed, along with radiographic, laboratory, and intraoperative features.
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