An intratemporal facial nerve neuroma: a case report.

A forty-one-year-old man presented with right-sided progressive facial nerve paralysis of one year duration. Computed tomography of the temporal bone showed a soft tissue mass in relation with the tympanic segment of the facial nerve with destructive changes in the facial recess region. Magnetic resonance images before and after gadolinium injection revealed a contrast-enhancing mass lesion in the tympanic cavity. The tumor was removed through a transmastoid approach and a cable graft from the greater auricular nerve was used to repair the defect. Histopathologic diagnosis was facial nerve schwannoma. At the end of one-year follow-up, the patient had moderately severe facial nerve dysfunction.