Acoustic Neuroma

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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues

See, Play and Learn

• Health Check Tools
• Videos and Tutorials

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Patient Handouts

Summary

An acoustic neuroma is a benign tumor that develops on the nerve that connects the ear to the brain. The tumor usually grows slowly. As it grows, it presses against the hearing and balance nerves. At first, you may have no symptoms or mild symptoms. They can include:

• Loss of hearing on one side
• Ringing in ears
• Dizziness and balance problems

The tumor can also eventually cause numbness or paralysis of the face. If it grows large enough, it can press against the brain, becoming life-threatening.

Acoustic neuroma can be difficult to diagnose, because the symptoms are similar to those of middle ear problems. Ear exams, hearing tests, and scans can show if you have it.

If the tumor stays small, you may only need to have it checked regularly. If you do need treatment, surgery and radiation are options.

If the tumors affect both hearing nerves, it is often because of a genetic disorder called neurofibromatosis.

NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders

Start Here

• Vestibular Schwannoma (Acoustic Neuroma) and Neurofibromatosis (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
• What Is Acoustic Neuroma? (Acoustic Neuroma Association)

Symptoms

• Symptoms of Acoustic Neuroma (Acoustic Neuroma Association)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Brain MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• Diagnosing Acoustic Neuroma (Acoustic Neuroma Association)
• Head CT (American College of Radiology; Radiological Society of North America) Also in Spanish
• When You Visit Your Doctor: Acoustic Neuroma (Harvard Medical School)

Treatments and Therapies

• Treatment Options - Overview (Acoustic Neuroma Association)

Related Issues

• Types of Post-Treatment Issues (Acoustic Neuroma Association)

Health Check Tools

• Do You Need a Hearing Test? (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish

Videos and Tutorials

• Acoustic Neuroma Educational Video (Acoustic Neuroma Association)

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Neuroma, Acoustic (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Preoperative Quality of Life in Patients with Small Vestibular Schwannomas.
• Article: Treatment options for unilateral vestibular schwannoma: a network meta-analysis.
• Article: Target-aware cross-modality unsupervised domain adaptation for vestibular schwannoma and cochlea segmentation.
• Acoustic Neuroma -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• NIDCD Glossary (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

Find an Expert

• Directory of Organizations (Deafness and Communication Disorders) (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Patient Handouts

• Acoustic neuroma (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Stereotactic radiosurgery - discharge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Stereotactic radiosurgery - Gamma Knife (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish