Trigeminal schwannomas: The role of the neurotologist in multidisciplinarymanagement

Trigeminal neuromas are slow-growing benign tumors representing approximate ly 10% of all intracranial neuromas and less than 0.5% of all intracranial tumors. Historically, excision of these tumors through traditional neurosur gical routes-including the frontotemporal transsylvian, subtemporal-intradu ral, subtemporal-transtentorial, or suboccipital approaches-has resulted in an unsatisfactorily high rate of recurrence. In this study we compare cont emporary skull base/neurotologic approaches with conventional procedures fo r trigeminal neuroma extirpation.