Source
House Ear Institute, Los Angeles, CA 90057, USA. rfriedman@hei.org
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
We sought to determine long-term hearing preservation in vestibular schwannoma patients after undergoing middle fossa resection. STUDY DESIGN, SETTING, AND OUTCOME MEASURES: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients undergoing middle fossa resection from 1990 to 1995 at a tertiary care center. Pure-tone thresholds, before resection and at least 5 years after resection, and speech discrimination scores are reported.
RESULTS:
Seventy percent of patients with immediate postoperative hearing maintained serviceable hearing at more than 5 years after surgery. Pure-tone average in the operative ear changed at the same rate as hearing in the unoperated ear during this follow-up period.
CONCLUSIONS:
More than two thirds of patients who underwent middle fossa resection of a vestibular schwannoma with some hearing postoperatively maintain that hearing at greater than 5 years of follow-up. Surgery alone does not have a negative impact on long-term hearing preservation.