Hearing preservation after acoustic tumor removal: long-term results.

This report examines the durability of preserved postoperative hearing in 25 middle fossa acoustic tumor patients with a minimum follow-up of 3 years. The mean follow-up time for this group was more than 8 years, with a maximum of almost 20 years. The initial postoperative audiogram was compared to the most recent audiogram for each patient, with change in the nonoperated ear serving as the control. Fourteen of the patients (56%) had a significant loss of the preserved hearing in the operated ear over time. The mean loss of speech discrimination was 25%, and the mean loss of speech reception threshold was 12 dB. Only one of the 14 patients had a similar loss in the contralateral ear. No recurrent tumors were identified. Good preoperative hearing is an obvious criterion for selection of candidates for hearing preservation surgery. Results of this study emphasize that a good initial postoperative hearing level is necessary to offset the potential deterioration of hearing that may occur over time.