Home A-Z conditions Vestibular Schwannoma
Also known as: Acoustic Neuroma
A vestibular schwannoma is a benign (non cancerous), usually slow growing, brain tumour and accounts for six to ten per cent of all brain tumours. Vestibular schwannomas affect approximately 1 in 70,000 persons per year. The cells that form a vestibular schwannoma are called Schwann cells and make up the lining of the eighth cranial nerve as it passes through a tiny canal, which connects the inner ear to the brain. Unknown events lead to an overproduction of Schwann cells, which as they multiply, form a small tumour, which fills the canal.
What are the symptoms?
Early symptoms can be easily overlooked, making diagnosis a challenge. The first symptom in over 90 per cent of patients is a reduction of hearing in one ear, sometimes accompanied by tinnitus. The loss of hearing is usually slight and worsens slowly, although sudden hearing loss has been known.
Other symptoms may be a feeling of fullness in the ear, but very rarely any pain. Unsteadiness and balance problems may occur and facial sensation may be affected, causing tingling and numbness. A large tumour can cause headaches due to a rise in pressure within the brain.
How is it diagnosed?
Physical examination may identify some signs such as unilateral (one sided) facial drooping or unsteadiness on walking, but a diagnosis of acoustic neuroma is usually made following a neurological assessment, taking the individual’s history and performing other tests such as a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and hearing tests.
How is it treated?
Monitoring – if the vestibular schwannoma is small and the patient has adjusted to living with the symptoms, then it may be appropriate to monitor the growth rate of the tumour through periodic MRI scans. It is not uncommon for vestibular schwannomas to show no significant growth when observed over a number of years.
Surgery – is often done by a neurosurgeon (brain surgeon) and a neurootologist (ear surgeon). Removal of the tumour may be approached from behind the ear (sub-occipital or posterior fossa), the mastoid and inner ear structures (translabyrinthine) or above the ear (middle fossa). The choice depends on the location and size of the tumour, degree of residual hearing and the surgeon’s operating preference.
Radiation – this is a non-invasive treatment and is used where the specialist considers it to be appropriate. Radiation does not remove the tumour but damages the DNA so that the cells forming the tumour cannot reproduce. The success or otherwise of the treatment takes about 12 months to two years to determine. A total of 90 per cent of tumours will be controlled with radiation but they will need long-term surveillance.
Inheritance patterns and prenatal diagnosis
Inheritance patterns There is a known association of vestibular schwannoma with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), which is a genetic disorder that is caused by a misprint in a single gene on chromosome 22.
Prenatal diagnosis Not yet possible.
Is there support?
Tel: 0800 652 3143 Email: admin@bana-uk.com www.bana-uk.com
The Association is a Registered Charity in England and Wales No. 1024443. It provides information and support to people affected by acoustic neuroma and the interrelated conditons, symptoms and effects. The Association hosts a number of branch and support groups throughout the UK for members, their families and non-member guests to attend.
Group details last updated December 2014.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.