Hearing preservation in patients with acoustic neuromas via the middle fossa approach.

Twenty patients with acoustic neuromas were operated on in an attempt to preserve hearing. These patients were selected from a series of approximately 300 patients seen from May 1975 to March 1979. All patients were operated on via the middle fossa approach. Hearing was preserved in approximately 35% of the patients. Preoperative and postoperative audiograms were performed on all patients. Tumor size ranged from 5 to 15 mm. These current cases are compared and added to our previous series of 17 cases (10 with hearing preserved) from a series of 500 acoustic neuromas reported elsewhere. Selection of patients, audiogram results, details of the middle fossa procedure, and work by other investigators are discussed.