Three hundred sixty-four patients referred to the Chicago Otology Group for acoustic tumor removal between 1981 and 1995 were reviewed in a retrospective fashion. Of this group, 60 patients were candidates for hearing preservation surgery and thus underwent one of two surgical approaches to remove the tumor and preserve hearing. Eighteen patients had tumor removal via the middle cranial fossa approach, and 42 patients had tumor removed via the retrosigmoid approach. Of the 42 patients who underwent retrosigmoid removal, 33% had hearing preserved overall. Of the 18 patients in the middle fossa group, 44% had hearing preserved overall. The average tumor size of patients with preserved hearing in the retrosigmoid group was 1.4 cm, and in the middle fossa group was 0.74 cm. Of significance was the fact that in both groups of patients with a tumor of 1.5 cm or less there was a 50% chance of hearing preservation. In the group of patients with tumors larger than 1.5 cm there was only a 16% chance of preserving hearing. We propose that these data can be used for better counseling of patients preoperatively as to the chances of hearing preservation and the type of approach appropriate for each case.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.