Evolution of a cochlear schwannoma on clinical and neuroimaging studies. Case report.

The authors report on a patient with a rare schwannoma that arose from the cochlear division of the vestibulocochlear nerve. Distinctively, the lesion appeared to arise from the cochlea itself and was monitored with clinical and neuroimaging studies for 12 years before it was diagnosed and treated. The atypical occurrence of schwannomas of the vestibulocochlear nerve originating in the inner ear structures underscores the high level of clinical suspicion required for the diagnosis of these lesions in patients presenting with persistent auditory and vestibular symptoms.