VESTIBULAR SCHWANNOMA WITH REPEATED INTRATUMORAL HEMORRHAGE

A symptomatic hemorrhage from a vestibular schwannoma is extremely rar e, despite its relatively high incidence in the cerebellopontine angle . Much more unusual are repeated intratumoral hemorrhages. The authors report on such a rare case of repeated intratumoral hemorrhage from a vestibular schwannoma, presenting with sudden exacerbation of headach e, nausea and vomiting. This second hemorrhage was confirmed by CT sca n on the day of the onset of symptomatic exacerbation, which was 9 day s after the initial CT scan, showing an enlarged amount of blood withi n the tumor. The MRI scan confirmed this CT finding. After removal, th e tumor proved to be a typical vestibular schwannoma of mixed Antoni t ypes A and B. Thin-dilated vessels with hemorrhage and hemosiderin-lad en macrophages were observed. The patient's postoperative course was u neventful. A total of 28 reported cases of a single intratumoral hemor rhage in vestibular schwannomas, and one reported case of repeated hem orrhage are reviewed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserv ed.