Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective Analysis

Background Giant vestibular schwannomas, more than 4.5 cm in diameter, are still representing the majority of vestibular schwannomas in developing countries. The philosophy of incomplete and intracapsular tumor excision has been introduced in the management of these giant tumors, balancing the long-...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohamed I. Refaat, Omar Y. Abdallah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2021-10-01
Series:Indian Journal of Neurosurgery
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0039-3402930
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849396289318420480
author Mohamed I. Refaat
Omar Y. Abdallah
author_facet Mohamed I. Refaat
Omar Y. Abdallah
author_sort Mohamed I. Refaat
collection DOAJ
description Background Giant vestibular schwannomas, more than 4.5 cm in diameter, are still representing the majority of vestibular schwannomas in developing countries. The philosophy of incomplete and intracapsular tumor excision has been introduced in the management of these giant tumors, balancing the long-term tumor control and postoperative clinical outcome. Objective The aim was to review the cases with giant vestibular schwannomas and studying their prevalence, morbidity, and mortality rates. Patients and Methods This study was conducted retrospectively on data of patients who had undergone microsurgical excision of vestibular schwannomas in our institute between January and December 2017. The functional outcome of the patients was assessed by comparing the preoperative and the postoperative neurological examination, as well as the Karnofsky performance score. Results Twenty-two cases with vestibular schwannomas were included in this study. Among these 22 cases, 15 cases had giant vestibular schwannomas (68.2%). The tumors’ largest extracanalicular diameters ranged from 4.5 cm to 6.2 cm. Postoperative images showed gross total excision of the tumor in 11 cases (73.3%), and subtotal excisions in four cases (26.7%). Twelve cases (80%) had postoperative facial palsy. We encountered no mortality in our cases and three cases (20%) were symptom-free postoperatively (apart from hearing affection). Conclusion Large and giant vestibular schwannomas are still commonly met in neurosurgical practice in developing countries; they have different behaviors and presentations from those of smaller tumors. Both patient and surgeon expectations from surgery should be toward no mortality and mild or no morbidities.
format Article
id doaj-art-b4d5d2a9bee04bee9e4eceae2935f980
institution Kabale University
issn 2277-954X
2277-9167
language English
publishDate 2021-10-01
publisher Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
record_format Article
series Indian Journal of Neurosurgery
spelling doaj-art-b4d5d2a9bee04bee9e4eceae2935f9802025-08-20T03:39:22ZengThieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.Indian Journal of Neurosurgery2277-954X2277-91672021-10-01100319019310.1055/s-0039-3402930Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective AnalysisMohamed I. Refaat0Omar Y. Abdallah1Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza Governorate, EgyptDepartment of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza Governorate, EgyptBackground Giant vestibular schwannomas, more than 4.5 cm in diameter, are still representing the majority of vestibular schwannomas in developing countries. The philosophy of incomplete and intracapsular tumor excision has been introduced in the management of these giant tumors, balancing the long-term tumor control and postoperative clinical outcome. Objective The aim was to review the cases with giant vestibular schwannomas and studying their prevalence, morbidity, and mortality rates. Patients and Methods This study was conducted retrospectively on data of patients who had undergone microsurgical excision of vestibular schwannomas in our institute between January and December 2017. The functional outcome of the patients was assessed by comparing the preoperative and the postoperative neurological examination, as well as the Karnofsky performance score. Results Twenty-two cases with vestibular schwannomas were included in this study. Among these 22 cases, 15 cases had giant vestibular schwannomas (68.2%). The tumors’ largest extracanalicular diameters ranged from 4.5 cm to 6.2 cm. Postoperative images showed gross total excision of the tumor in 11 cases (73.3%), and subtotal excisions in four cases (26.7%). Twelve cases (80%) had postoperative facial palsy. We encountered no mortality in our cases and three cases (20%) were symptom-free postoperatively (apart from hearing affection). Conclusion Large and giant vestibular schwannomas are still commonly met in neurosurgical practice in developing countries; they have different behaviors and presentations from those of smaller tumors. Both patient and surgeon expectations from surgery should be toward no mortality and mild or no morbidities.http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0039-3402930giant vestibular schwannomasfacial nerve preservationbulbar affectionretrosigmoid approachcerebellopontine angle
spellingShingle Mohamed I. Refaat
Omar Y. Abdallah
Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective Analysis
Indian Journal of Neurosurgery
giant vestibular schwannomas
facial nerve preservation
bulbar affection
retrosigmoid approach
cerebellopontine angle
title Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective Analysis
title_full Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective Analysis
title_fullStr Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective Analysis
title_short Surgical Outcome of Giant Vestibular Schwannomas: A Retrospective Analysis
title_sort surgical outcome of giant vestibular schwannomas a retrospective analysis
topic giant vestibular schwannomas
facial nerve preservation
bulbar affection
retrosigmoid approach
cerebellopontine angle
url http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0039-3402930
work_keys_str_mv AT mohamedirefaat surgicaloutcomeofgiantvestibularschwannomasaretrospectiveanalysis
AT omaryabdallah surgicaloutcomeofgiantvestibularschwannomasaretrospectiveanalysis