Derived from the Greek word, Neuroma means nerve tumor. It’s also referred as vestibular schwannoma. The term “acoustic” can be very misleading as the possibility of the tumor occurring from acoustic is very rare. Nearly 3000 cases of this ailment are diagnosed annually in the United States itself. Elderly people are more prone to this aliment, irrespective of their gender.
Contrast-enhanced CT is conducted to detect this ailment. Tumors which are small in size (below 2.0cm) are discovered by MRI. Vestibular and audiology tests are performed to see if the aliment has affected the hearing ability of the sufferer.
Individuals resort to surgery and radiotherapy treatments in order to heal this tumor. Medical management is used to cure nearly 25% of acoustic neuromas patients. Medical management comprises of regular monitoring of the patients along with the study of the neurological status and hearing aids.
By nature, neuromata growth is a slow process. Several conventional treatments are also practiced to cure this ailment which includes monitoring the tumor by annual MRI. This method is usually practiced amongst elderly people. Nearly 50% of the acoustic neuromata experience slow growth by the above observation method. Combined with citation, neuromata have faded in size amongst few patients. Individuals affected by acoustic neuromata are often seen dying due to some other aliment, until neuroma takes the shape of a life threatening disease. Acoustic neuromata can lead to gradual or sudden cause of tinnitus.
Acoustic neuromas can be eradicated by several measures. Each of these approaches has their own pros and cons. When it comes to the removal of tumor, Microsurgery is the only effective method in place. Radiation treatment is another well known method used to get rid of Acoustic neuromas. Although it can diminish or stop the growth of tumor, it fails to remove the tumor completely. Individuals suffering from tinnitus due to acoustic neuromas can resort to surgery to increase their chances of getting completely cured. However, the ironic part is that even after surgery there is a mild possibility that the neuroma may appear back.
Several factors and tests are considered before the patient is asked to lay down on the hospital bed for surgery, as surgery can cause damage to the facial nerve. Translabyrinthine, suboccipital retrosigmoid and middle fossa are the three surgical approaches practiced worldwide to cure this ailment.
Under the translabyrinthine approach, tumor of any size can be treated. It’s often considered the safest surgical method in comparison to the other two surgical methods. Suboccipital retrosigmoid and middle fossa approaches have a chance to preserve some or all of the hearing ability in the affected ear.
Radiation therapy comes next to surgical methods. They are conducted in several ways, and mainly comprises of 3 methods. Gamma knife radiosurgery or fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, with a Linear Accelerator (Linac) or Proton therapy are the three radiation therapy techniques used these days. Most surgeons are of the belief that tumors are difficult to remove after radiation treatment.
One always runs the risk of possible side effects with radiation treatment. It can lead to the carcinogenic progression of the acoustic neuroma or introduction of other tumors. In order to avoid the dreadful side effects, a patient needs to conduct a yearly MRI for his or her entire lifetime.
Individuals following fractionated stereotactic therapy cannot be guaranteed about the control of tumor, or the occurrence of any other secondary effects. The treatment involves a beam of ionizing radiation focused on the tumor from a moving gantry.
A Proton therapy machine is also being used these days to get rid of the tumor. However, only few individuals have resorted to this method, and the results so far have not been satisfactory.
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