A CASE OF ABDUCENS NEURINOMA MIMICKING ACOUSTIC NEURINOMA

Neurinoma arising from the abducens nerve independent of neurofibromat osis has been rarely reported in the existing literature. We present a case of abducens neurinoma which was confirmed during a surgical exci sion. A 31-year-old female had experienced a hearing disturbance for t he past 8 months. Abduction of the right eye ball was almost full. Mag netic resonance images showed a tumor having a size of 44 x 33 x 33 mm at the right cerebellopontine angle. Neuro-otological examination rev ealed the findings specific to acoustic neurinoma. Surgical excision c onfirmed that the tumor originated from the abducens nerve. The tumor located at the cavernous sinus or cerebellopontine angle might origina te from the abducens nerve, though the abduction of eye ball is not in any way impaired. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.