Acoustic neuroma - symptoms, treatment

It affects the 7th and 8th cranial nerves. This disease is relatively rare, occurring in approximately 1 person in 100,000 annually. Slightly more often diagnosed in women. However, this neuroma rarely leads to hearing loss. As already noted, the tumor grows slowly, but often it presses on some parts of the brain.

Symptoms

Acoustic neuroma is characterized by the fact that it compresses the brain tissue and nearby vessels. As it grows, the symptoms will appear more and more actively. At the initial stage, the patient notices noticeable dizziness and a ringing in the ears. There are a number of other symptoms:

• systematic sleep disorders;
• visual impairment;
• loss of facial abilities;
• difficulties in speech recognition.

Main causes

Most often, the appearance of this tumor is associated with a mutation of chromosome 22. As you know, it is responsible for the production of protein. But it is necessary to understand the reasons for this mutation. The most important of them is the presence of this disease in close relatives. Also, a mutation can begin due to strong noise exposure, when exposed to even small doses of radiation at an early age.

How is the treatment performed?

Only a doctor can choose a method after a thorough examination. The most common are radiation therapy and surgery. Chemotherapy is not applicable, since this neuroma is not a malignant tumor. Radiosurgery is used quite rarely. This formation is quite operable . The main problem is that after removal it is not always possible to restore hearing. That is why it is advisable to consult a doctor as soon as possible. It is best to contact a trusted specialist, since during removal there is a risk of hurting nerves.

Radiation therapy is gradually fading into the background, being replaced by radiosurgery, which is safer. The point is to irradiate the tumor with radiation, but healthy tissue should not be harmed. The specialist must perform irradiation from different angles.