title: Clinical characteristics and outcomes of intratemporal facial nerve neurofibromas.
abstract: This study aimed to present clinical features and outcomes of 10 patients with intratemporal facial nerve neurofibromas.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ten patients underwent complete tumor removal, and nerve grafting was performed on 3 cases whose nerve integrity was sacrificed. They were followed up after surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients firstly complained of facial palsy, and progressive sensorineural hearing loss was also present in one case. Insidious onset of facial palsy was found in 6 of 10 cases (60.0%). There was multi-segment involvement in 5 of 10 cases (50.0%). During the follow-up of 4.2±1.5 ys (range, 2-6 ys), 1 of 6 cases who successfully maintained nerve integrity recovered to Grade III, and the others remained or recovered to Grade V or even Grade VI. In contrast, all of the 3 cases with nerve grafting recovered from Grade VI to Grade III or Grade IV. No tumor recurrence was noted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Facial nerve neurofibromas mainly presented with insidious facial palsy, and tended to affect multiple segments of facial nerve. It seemed that complete tumor removal and nerve grafting had better outcomes of facial nerve compared to complete tumor removal with nerve integrity preserved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Medical School of Chinese PLA, Beijing, P.R.C; Department of Otolaryngology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, P.R.C.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, P.R.C.
authors.forename: Dongdong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, P.R.C.
authors.forename: Yefeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Navy General Hospital, Beijing, P.R.C. Electronic address: Sunjj201410@163.com.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D009455:Neurofibroma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013701:Temporal Bone; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult