This article represents collaborative data of hearing outcomes from tertiary centres in Norway and the United States. They studied data of patients with less than or equal to 3cm vestibular schwannoma who underwent observation, primary microsurgery and Gamma Knife surgery between 1998 and 2008. At 7.7 years mean time after initial treatment, using the Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA) and the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, patients were mailed a survey. Of the 79% of the patients who responded to the survey, more than 75% had non-serviceable hearing at follow-up. The study results showed that durable hearing was preserved only in those patients who were observed and did not undergo any treatment. Treatments in any form, either microsurgery or Gamma Knife surgery were associated with hearing loss and the incidence was highest in patients who underwent surgery. This data is worth considering for neuro-otologists treating vestibular schwannomas.
Active intervention in small schwannomas associated with higher incidence of long-term hearing loss
Reviewed by Gauri Mankekar
Long term auditory symptoms in patients with sporadic vestibular schwannoma: an international cross-sectional study.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gauri Mankekar
Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
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