I just finished reading a recent abstract (J Neurosug 2016 Dec) that the community may find interesting:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27035174 . I call it a mini review since I've only got, and therefore read, the abstract.
The article compares microsurgery (MS) to stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for tumors ≤ 2.8 cm in diameter.
My summary is:
n = 399 patients
Preservation of preoperative Class A hearing: 14.3% MS, 42.9% SRS
Serviceable hearing preservation: 42.8% MS. 85.7% SRS
Facial nerve dysfunction (HB III-IV): 11% MS, 0% SRS
Need for subsequent intervention: same (2 patients for MS and SRS)
The follow up time, particularly for SRS was short. It would be interesting to see how things change after 5 year and 10 years. I suspect that hearing will continue to decline, but facial nerve and subsequent intervention figures would remain unchanged. Stereotactic radiosurgery appears to be a clear winner for tumors ≤ 2.8 cm in diameter. No mention of CSF leak, hydrocephalus, headaches, trigeminal nerve dysfunction, meningitis or possibility of malignant transformation in the abstract.
What I'm reading here is consistent with previous reading.
