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We report a rare case of schwannoma arising from the pharyngeal branch of the vagus nerve. An 18-year-old woman presented with an egg-sized nontender upper cervical swelling. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a well-defined tumor measuring 50mm in its major axis in the left carotid space. The tumor was moderately enhanced, and showed hypointensity and isointensity on T1- and T2-weighted MRI, respectively. Otorhinolaryngological findings were otherwise normal. A schwannoma was most likely suspected, and she underwent transcervical resection of the tumor. A cordlike strand connected to the cephalad end of the tumor was severed, while both the vagus and hypoglossal nerves were identified and preserved. The histopathological diagnose is schwannoma. After surgery, the patient manifested a curtain sign toward the unaffected side without showing vocal cord palsy or Homer's syndrome, indicating that the tumor had arisen from the pharyngeal branch of the vagus nerve. Clinical characteristics of schwannomas in the carotid space were reviewed.

We report two cases of large vestibular aqueduct syndrome, a rare congenital malformation of the inner ear originally described by Valvassori and Clemis in 1978.The first case was a 38-year-old woman who had complained of progressive hearing loss since childhood and periodic episodes of recurrent vertigo since 30 years of age. She had been misdiagnosed as having Meniere's disease by previous doctors. The second case was a 9-year-old boy with acute hearing loss several hours after minor head collision. Psychogenic hearing loss was initially suspected, but was eventually ruled out based on diminished auditory brainstem response. When these patients were initially seen in our clinic, both patients showed severe bilateral combined hearing loss on pure tone audiogram. Definitive diagnosis was established by magnetic resonance imaging, which demonstrated expanded endolymphatic ducts and sacs.Clinical characteristics and possible pathogenesis of large vestibular aqueduct syndrome is discussed with a review of the literature.

MALT lymphoma is characterized as a type of low-grade extranodal B cell lymphoma arising from mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). It is thought to be associated with autoimmune diseases, e. g., Sjogren's syndrome and Hashimoto's disease, or inflammatory diseases, e. g., Helicobacter pylori infection of the stomach. We report a rare case of MALT lymphoma of the cheek. A 76-year-old woman was referred to our clinic, complaining of swelling of the left cheek. CT and MRI showed a solid mass with a smooth surface in the subcutaneous region of her left cheek. Total resection of the tumor was performed. The tumor was histopathologically diagnosed as MALT lymphoma. No other lesions were detected in systemic examinations. A complete remission was obtained with 4 courses of Rituximab (anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody) therapy and irradiation at 40Gy. The patient is currently free from disease 21 months after surgery.