Are facial nerve outcomes worse following surgery for cystic vestibular schwannoma?

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine explicitly whether postsurgical facial nerve outcomes for patients with a cystic component to a vestibular schwannoma were significantly different from those with a solid tumor. DESIGN: Seventy patients who underwent translabyrinthine surgery for a cystic vestibular schwannoma between May 1981 and the present, and who had complete records in our database, were identified. These were compared with a group of patients with solid tumors matched to the study group on the following parameters House-Brackmann grade at presentation, tumor size, surgical approach, age. SETTING: Regional tertiary referral center. PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients with vestibular schwannomas. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: House-Brackmann score 2 years following surgery. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The perceived difference in outcomes between cystic and solid vestibular schwannomas cannot be demonstrated when confounding factors such as tumor size are taken into account.