Hemiatrophy of the tongue due to hypoglossal schwannoma shown by MRI.

Schwannomas account for 8.5% of all intracranial tumours; more than 90% arise from the 8th cranial nerve. Only 42 cases of schwannoma of the hypoglossal nerve have been reported. A 59 year-old woman developed right hemiatrophy of the tongue, clearly demonstrated on MRI, as was a small hypoglossal schwannoma. High signal was seen in the atrophic side of the tongue on both T1- and T2-weighted images, as described in the literature.