Greater superficial petrosal nerve neuroinoma - Case report

The authors report a case of middle cranial fossa neurinoma arising from th e left greater superficial petrosal nerve in a 21-year-old woman who presen ted with a left-sided otitis media that chronically recurred over a period of 5 years. On examination, the patient had a left-sided mild conductive he aring impairment and a slight disturbance in tear secretion on the left sid e, with sensory disturbance in the left palate. Three-dimensional computeri zed tomography scans clearly demonstrated the enlargement of the foramen la cerum and foramen ovale, and heavily T-2-weighted magnetic resonance images revealed the tumor's location along with the course of the greater superfi cial petrosal nerve and its extension into the tympanic cavity. Following c omplete surgical excision of the tumor and tympanoplasty via a middle crani al fossa approach, the patient retained useful hearing without facial palsy .