Totally cystic schwannoma of the tenth cranial nerve mimicking an epidermoid.

Schwannomas are usually characterized by a mass that displays rapid and intense contrast enhancement on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Although some cases are associated with cyst formation, a solid component is nearly always visualized. Schwannomas can be associated with any nerve. Schwannomas of the ninth, 1Oth, and 11th cranial nerves, also called neurinomas of the jugular foramen nerves, however, are very rare compared with the common eighth cranial nerve schwannomas (acoustic neuromas) (1-3) . In the literature, these cases are typified by widening of the affected jugular foramen (4), although this feature is absent in purely intracisternal cases. We present a case of a totally cystic schwannoma of the tenth cranial nerve, in which the MR appearance markedly resembled that of an epidermoid.