Multiple plexiform schwannomas in the plantar aspect of the foot: case report and literature review

BACKGROUND: Plexiform schwannoma (PS) is a rare, peripheral nerve sheath tumor arranged in a plexiform pattern. CASE PRESENTATION: We report an unusual case of a 19-year-old woman, who complained of pain in the plantar aspect of the left foot. Magnetic resonance image (MRI) demonstrates three solitary nodules of varying sizes in the deep soft tissue of the plantar aspect of the foot that are homogeneously isointense to skeletal muscle on T1-weighted images and hyperintense on T2-weighted fat-suppressed images, especially the rim of the lesion. Subsequent pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of PS. CONCLUSION: MRI characteristic plays an important role in detecting this rare lesion. A review of the literature on PS is also presented. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-342) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.