Malignant lesions are aggressive and difficult to eradicate with surgery and have a recurrence rate of 32%. Epidemiology
Granular cell tumors can affect all parts of the body; however, the head and neck areas are affected 45% to 65% of the time. Of the head and neck cases 70% of lesions are located intraorally (tongue, oral mucosa, hard palate). The next most common location that lesions are found in the head and neck area is the larynx (10%). Granular cell tumors are also found in the internal organs, particularly in the upper aerodigestive tract. Vaginal granular cell tumors are generally rare.Breast granular cell tumors arise from intralobular breast stroma and occurs within the distribution of the cutaneous branches of the supraclavicular nerve. As they do follow the innervation of the skin, they may demonstrate skin changes like contraction or shrinkage. Unlike traditional breast cancers, glandular cell tumors are mostly found in the upper inner quadrant of the breast. They can erroneously diagnosed as an invasive ductal carcinoma via ultrasound and mammography, therefore, it is necessary to consider a diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma. The usual presentation is of a slow growing behavior, forming a polygonal accumulation of secondary lysosomes in the cytoplasm. Granular cell tumors are typically solitary and rarely larger than three centimeters. However, proliferative growth and development of an ulcer indicates likely malignancy as this type of tumor can be either benign or malignant. Malignancy is rare and constitutes only 2% of all granular cell tumors.
The electrical activity of the brain changes as the disease progresses, first showing abnormalities in one temporal lobe of the brain, which spread to the other temporal lobe 7–10 days later. Imaging by CT or MRI shows characteristic changes in the temporal lobes (see Figure). Definite diagnosis requires testing of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) for presence of the virus. The testing takes several days to perform, and patients with suspected Herpes encephalitis should be treated with acyclovir immediately while waiting for test results. Atypical stroke-like presentation of HSV encephalitis has been described as well and the clinicians should be aware that HSV encephalitis can mimic a stroke. Associated conditions
Herpesviral encephalitis can serve as a trigger of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. About 30% of HSE patients develop this secondary immunologic reaction, which is associated with impaired neurocognitive recovery. Epidemiology
The annual incidence of herpesvial encephalitis is from 2 to 4 cases per 1 million population. Pathophysiology
HSE is thought to be caused by the transmission of virus from a peripheral site on the face following HSV-1 reactivation, along a nerve axon, to the brain. The virus lies dormant in the ganglion of the trigeminal cranial nerve, but the reason for reactivation, and its pathway to gain access to the brain, remains unclear, though changes in the immune system caused by stress clearly play a role in animal models of the disease.