Vestibular schwannomas are benign intracranial tumors which generally arise from the Schwann cells of the superior part of the vestibular portion of the eight cranial nerve. The most common... Show moreVestibular schwannomas are benign intracranial tumors which generally arise from the Schwann cells of the superior part of the vestibular portion of the eight cranial nerve. The most common symptoms accompanying vestibular schwannoma (VS) are unilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo and unsteadiness. For many years, microsurgical treatment of VS has been considered the __gold standard__. However, the treatment of VS continues to evolve with the advent of alternative treatment options such as wait and scan and stereotactic irradiation. Moreover, advances in MRI techniques have allowed for an early diagnosis and exact measurement of growth, which has led to an increased number of patients with small and minimally symptomatic tumors. As a result, the treatment of VS no longer involves life saving surgery, but prophylactic management of future morbidity. These developments have also created new insights into how vestibular schwannoma can be best treated, as it has become clear that the tumor may remain unchanged for many years. However, the treatment of VS patients still remains a matter of debate with advocates and opponents of each modality. Traditionally, the evaluation of VS treatment was performed using primary outcome measures such as mortality and morbidity. But the subject of quality of life (QoL) has increasingly become an important outcome measure in VS. QoL may provide clinicians valuable informati on that is not always Show less
