Are Facial Nerve Outcomes Worse Following Surgery for Cystic Vestibular Schwannoma?

Abstract

This study sought to determine explicitly whether postsurgical facial nerve outcomes for patients with a cystic component to a vestibular schwannoma were significantly different from those with a solid tumor. Seventy patients who underwent translabyrinthine surgery for a cystic vestibular schwannoma between May 1981 and the present, and who had complete records in our database, were identified. These were compared with a group of patients with solid tumors matched to the study group on the following parameters: House-Brackmann grade at presentation, tumor size, surgical approach, age. Regional tertiary referral center. Adult patients with vestibular schwannomas. House-Brackmann score 2 years following surgery. No significant difference was found between the two groups. The perceived difference in outcomes between cystic and solid vestibular schwannomas cannot be demonstrated when confounding factors such as tumor size are taken into account.