[Bilateral acoustic neuromas].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical course, growth character and treatment of bilateral acoustic neuromas (BANs).


METHODS
Five cases of BANs were reported.


RESULTS
From 1986 to 1996, 92 patients with acoustic tumors were managed. Of them, 5(5%) bilateral acoustic neuromas were observed. All patients were males, the age at the time of testing ranged from 16 to 31 years (mean 23.8 years). In all patients, progressive hearing loss and tinnitus were the most common initial symptoms. In addition, signs of other cranial nerve deficits were detected in all patients. Two cases had cafe au lait spots and all cases had neurofibromas of varying sizes and shapes in subcutaneous tissues. Four had unilateral acoustic tumors operated on, one by the translabyrinthine approach, 3 by the suboccipital approach. One patient died due to encephaledema and hernia of brain after operation. According to the MRI data in one case, the average growth rate of acoustic tumor was 1.1 cm (superior/inferior) and 0.7 cm (medical/lateral) per year.


CONCLUSIONS
The management of BANs patients presents challenging problems different from the unilateral acoustic tumors.
Han
D
D
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853.
Yang
W
W
Zhou
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016518:Neurofibromatosis 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies