Patients perineural tumor spread along the auriculotemporal nerve, as determined with imaging findings
Patient No. | Diagnosis | Cranial Nerve Palsy | Symptoms | Involvement | Additional Imaging Findings | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Facial Nerve Main Trunk | Auriculotemporal Nerve | Cranial Nerve V | Skull Base | Intracranial | |||||
1 | Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma | VII palsy at presentation | Facial weakness | Yes | Yes | Yes | Temporal bone along the facial canal | No | None |
2 | Squamous cell carcinoma | VII palsy at presentation, V3 3 mo later | Pretragal mass | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes, 7 m after initial diagnosis | None |
3 | Poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma | Clinically suspected auriculotemporal nerve dysfunction, V3 palsy 10 mo later | Ear discomfort, TMJ tenderness | Yes | Yes | Yes | At the foramen spinosum and ovale | No | Spread along the middle meningeal artery |
4 | Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma | VII and V palsy, clinically suspected auriculotemporal nerve dysfunction | Retromandibular and pretragal pain | Yes | Yes | Yes | At the right foramen ovale | Yes, 14 mo after initial diagnosis | Involvement of infratemporal fossa |
5 | Neurofibroma | V3 palsy at presentation | Pain and mass in the right mandibular region | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | None |
6 | Moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma | Bilateral V, right VI, and IX palsy | Ear pain, TMJ dysfunction | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Involvement of infratemporal fossa |
7 | Squamous cell carcinoma | VII palsy for 22 mo | Parotid pain and swelling, preauricular pain | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Involvement of V1 |