Summary
The authors report their experience in the surgical management of small (less than 1.5 cm diameter) acoustic neuromas. Twenty-nine patients were treated. They had suffered symptoms of unilateral eighth nerve dysfunction on average for 37 months. High resolution CT with iv contrast was the primary investigation. In equivocal cases, air meatography was performed. All operations were performed by the senior author (LS). All tumours were totally removed, there were no deaths and all patients had an excellent result. There were 6 complications (CSF leak 3; meningitis 2; deep venous thrombosis 1). The facial nerve was preserved in 26 cases (and functioned adequately in all) and. the cochlear nerve in 62%. In 4 cases with hearing pre-operatively, the decibel loss was the same or less post operatively. In 8 cases speech discrimination remained above 35%.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Di Tullio MV, Malkasian D, Rand RW (1978) A critical comparison of neurosurgical and otolaryngological approaches to acoustic neuromas. J Neurosurg 48: 1–12
Fischer G, Constantini J-L, Mercier P (1980) Improvement of hearing after microsurgical removal of acoustic neurinoma. Neurosurgery 7: 154–159
Grundy BL, Janetta PJ, Procopio PT, Lina A, Boston JR, Doyle E (1982) Intraoperative monitoring of brain-stem auditory evoked potentials. J Neurosurg 57: 674–681
Jennett B, Bond M (1975) Assessment of outcome after severe brain damage. A practical scale. Lancet 1: 480–484
King TT, Morrison AW (1980) Translabyrinthine and transtentorial removal of acoustic nerve tumours. Results in 150 cases. J Neurosurg 52: 210–216
Lye RH, Dutton J, Ramsden RT, Occleshaw JV, Ferguson IT, Taylor I (1982) Facial nerve preservation during surgery for removal of acoustic nerve tumors. J Neurosurg 57: 739–746
Ojemann RG, Levine RA, Montgomery WM, McGaffigan P (1984) Use of intraoperative auditory evoked potentials to preserve hearing in unilateral acoustic neuroma removal. J Neurosurg 61: 938–948
Rand RW, Kurze T (1968) Case reports and technical notes preservation of vestibular, cochlear, and facial nerves during microsurgical removal of acoustic tumors. Report of two cases. J Neurosurg 28: 158–161
Sabin IH, Compton JS, Bordi LT, Symon L (1989) Facial hypoglossal anastomosis for the treatment of facial palsy following acoustic tumour surgery. In preparation
Symon L, Bordi LT, Compton JS, Sabin IH, Sayin E (1989) Acoustic neuroma. A review of 392 cases. In preparation
Yasargil MG, Fox JL (1974) The microsurgical approach to acoustic neurinomas. Surg Neurol 2: 393–398
Zlotnik El, Sklyut IA, Smeyanovich AF, Stolkarts IZ (1979) Total removal of acoustic neurinomas. J Neurosurg 50: 170–173
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Compton, J.S., Bordi, L.T., Cheeseman, A.D. et al. The small acoustic tumour; a chance to preserve hearing. Acta neurochir 98, 115–117 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01407336
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01407336