Schwannoma

What it means

A benign nerve sheath tumor composed of Schwann cells.

Glial cells are cells that support nerve cells. Schwann cells wrap around the axon to form the myelin sheath. Schwann cells are involved in many important aspects of peripheral nerve biology; the conduction of nervous impulses along axons, nerve development and regeneration, trophic support for neurons, production of the nerve extracellular matrix and presentation of antigens to T-lymphocytes. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), schwannomatosis and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) are all neuropathies involving Schwann cells.

Rare diseases that can present with this8

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Neurilemmoma · Neurinoma · Neurolemmoma · Schwann cell tumor · Schwann cell tumour · Schwannomas