ACOUSTIC NEUROMA - CORRELATION AMONG TUMOR SIZE, SYMPTOMS, AND PATIENT AGE

Due to improved diagnostic techniques, acoustic neuromas more frequent ly are detected at an early stage. Subsequent treatment depends on suc h factors as expected tumor growth rate, tumor size, and patient age. The natural history of acoustic neuromas is still uncertain: This stud y was performed to examine possible correlations among tumor size, pat ient age, signs and symptoms, and duration of symptoms. The study incl uded 164 patients with an acoustic neuroma who were treated at Univers ity Hospital Nijmegen, The Netherlands, over a period of 13 years, Com parisons were made between the findings of this study and the reports in the literature. No support was found for any of the correlations me ntioned in other studies, and no relationships could be demonstrated b etween the parameters evaluated in this study. The authors therefore r ecommend that treatment policies be based only on well-established cor relations.