Gamma knife vs Surgery for small AN

[YousefAN]

Hello all,

I have a recent diagnosis of AN after having symptoms of hearing loss and tinnitus. I am 26 years old and have no other current significant medical problems. My AN is 8 x 8 x 9 mm in size. I am trying to decide between surgery and gamma knife. I currently have fully functional hearing level with only a mild degree of loss. I'd like to hear any opinions/experiences between the two regarding the size of my AN and the related risks between each treatment options?

Also if there are any good websites/articles I can read that were helpful about AN?

Thanks

[arizonajack]

We can only give you our own experiences.

In my case my AN hearing was about 90% gone when I was diagnosed with a 3mm x 4mm x 9mm AN. Six months later the AN had grown about 20% and the hearing on that side was 100% gone.

There are surgical techniques that might preserve hearing and Gamma Knife has also been shown to preserve hearing in some cases.

Here is some material I've gathered.

http://www.myacoustic.org/steven-chang-interview-acoustic-neuroma-treatment.html

http://thejns.org/doi/pdf/10.3171/2012.7.GKS12783

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/857604-overview#showall

http://www.panarabneurosurgery.org.sa/journal/October2008/p1-10%20(551).pdf

Google "acoustic neuroma hearing preservation" or some such and you'll probably find additional resources.

I suggest, however, that time is not your friend if you want to preserve your hearing.