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Extracranial schwannoma of the maxillary nerve misdiagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia in an elderly patient with schizophrenia - A diagnostic dilemma.

T Anish PoornaLokesh JrJoshna EkBobby JohnNeethu SShankar S
Published in: Special care in dentistry : official publication of the American Association of Hospital Dentists, the Academy of Dentistry for the Handicapped, and the American Society for Geriatric Dentistry (2022)
The present paper discusses the diagnostic challenges we faced in a 60-year-old woman with a history of schizophrenia, presenting with left unilateral facial pain for the past three months. Based on the elaborate clinical examination and diagnostic nerve blocks, the patient was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and non-surgical therapy commenced. Further investigations with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) revealed the presence of an extracranial schwannoma involving a branch of the maxillary nerve. The patient was symptomatically relieved after surgical excision of the benign tumor under general anesthesia. Hence, we emphasize the need for special care and attention in psychiatric patients presenting with orofacial pain.
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