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DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1728452
Evaluation of residual cochlear function after suboccipital vestibular swannomextirpation and deafness
Despite the use of a suboccipital approach, surgical removal of a vestibularis schwannoma does not always allow a preservation of hearing. Postoperative anacusis after removal of a vestibular schwannoma is generally attributed to injury or severing of the vestibulocochlear nerve. Information on the function of the cochlea after surgery and subsequent deafness is rudimentary.
Babbage et al. (2013) tested seven postsurgical deafened patients for residual cochlear function using distortion products of otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE). Despite the absence of neural functions, residual cochlear function at 8 kHz was detected in one patient. The aim of this study was to evaluate cochlear function after extirpation of a vestibularis schwannoma with subsequent anacusis.
We performed brainstem audiometry (ABR) in six postoperatively deafened patients (mean: 54 y) to check neural function and DPOAEs to examine cochlear function. Preoperatively we recorded normal hearing abilities. Preliminary results show that residual cochlear function is not unusual despite postoperative damage to the vestibulocochlear nerve evaluated by ABR potentials.
Using OAE and ABR based topodiagnostics, the localization of the lesion after vestibularis schwannomextirpation and subsequent deafness seems possible.
Sources
Babbage et al., Journal of Neurological Surgery Part B, Vol. 74 No. B3/2013
Poster-PDF A-1618.pdf
Publication History
Article published online:
13 May 2021
© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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