No shinkei geka. Neurological surgery
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Seventeen patients with acoustic neurinoma were reviewed on the basis of postoperative preservation of facial and acoustic nerve functions. The sizes of tumors were intracanalicular in 5 cases, smaller than 20mm in diameter in 2 cases, smaller than 30mm in 5 cases, and larger than 30mm in 5 cases. In all cases, the facial nerve was anatomically preserved at operation. ⋯ Postoperative hearing was maintained in two cases, one of which showed a successful preservation of serviceable hearing. In this case, tumor resection was performed with intraoperative monitoring of auditory brain stem reactions (ABRs). Discussion was made concerning a possible surgical candidates for the hearing preservation, and it was proposed that every effort should be made to preserve the cochlear nerve if following conditions were verified in the case: 1) normal or nearly normal hearing (less than 40-50dB hearing loss), 2) the size of tumor is intracanalicular or smaller than 2cm in diameter, 3) there is no deterioration of intraoperative ABR.