The Wellington Neurological Rehabilitation Centre
The Wellington Hospital North Building NW8 6PD London
Acoustic neuroma
Also known as a vestibular schwannoma, a non-cancerous (benign) brain tumour.
What is an acoustic neuroma?
Also known as vestibular schwannoma, an acoustic neuroma is a tumour that grows slowly from the covering on the vestibular nerve. This nerve runs from the inner ear to the brainstem and plays a role in maintaining your balance. The tumour is benign, which means it is not cancerous.
They are not strictly brain tumours as they grow from nerve sheath cells (schwann cells) and push against the hind brain (cerebellum) and brain stem only when they are large. A neuroma can still cause balance problems, hearing loss and facial pain and numbness, if the tumour is large enough to put pressure on your brain stem.
Need to know
The most common symptoms of a vestibular schawnnoma include:
- loss of hearing in the affected ear
- a buzzing or ringing noise (tinnitus)
- dizziness
- balance problems
- facial weakness, numbness or tingling on one side of the face
Vestibular schwannomas tend to affect adults. They are easily found on MRI scans, but because the symptoms of hearing loss and tinnitus can be caused by other conditions, such as Meniere's disease, scans and the diagnosis are sometimes delayed.
If your consultant suspects you have a vestibular schwannoma, they may perform one or all of the following:
- tests of hearing and balance
- an MRI scan (or a CT if you cannot have an MRI)
Your consultant will then discuss the results of any tests with you.
Your consultant will discuss treatment options with you depending on the position and size of your neuroma, how quickly the tumour is growing, and your general health.
Among the main treatment options are:
- Monitoring the tumour ,with regular MRI scans if the tumour is small
- Radiation, using machines such as the Gamma Knife
- Surgery under general anaesthetic, if the tumour is very large.
Gamma Knife Treatment for Acoustic Neuroma
Radiotherapy treatments have increased in popularity over the past 20 years. The term radiosurgery is generally considered to mean treatment after one session (fraction), but up to 5 fractions can be used in some centres and this is still regarded internationally as being radiosurgery. A single fraction is generally used to treat vestibular schwannomas. The dose of radiation given has reduced over the past 20 years, with a consequent reduction in side effects but without any noticeable reduction in the effectiveness.
Although the term ‘Gamma Knife’ implies a surgical cutting of tissue, no knives are involved, and the technique employs converging beams of radiation, delivering a high dose of radiation to the tumour, with a much lower dose to the surrounding tissue. The success of treatment is measured by growth arrest rather than tumour removal with the efficacy being at least 95% as shown by the latest published results.
What other treatment options are available?
There are different radiotherapy tools for delivering radiosurgery treatments, including Gamma Knife and TrueBeam. It is considered that these treatments are probably equivalent, but Gamma Knife has the longest track record and most of the published results.
Acoustic neuroma in children
A specialist service for children is offered by HCA UK at a number of locations. This includes;
- Bespoke equipment for children
- Experienced paediatric consultants
- Nursing support with children friendly facilities
Our Acoustic neuroma locations
Patient stories
Yvette's story: From back pain to hip replacement surgery
Yvette (54) a journalist from Kent, started experiencing pain in her hip seven years ago in 2015. An ex-national gymnast who had been incredibly active and flexible her whole life, Yvette felt concerned about the growing discomfort impacting her quality of life, and so sought help from her GP.
A new hip and straight back into the spin of things
David’s gym video shows him repeatedly pushing up to 100kg on a single leg press – not particularly unusual for this keen cyclist, former competitive squash player and all-round fitness enthusiast. What is unusual is that 52-year-old David had hip surgery just 12 weeks earlier.
Michael's MAKO hip surgery to treat his arthritis
73 year-old Michael, an avid walker and charity worker, was diagnosed with arthritis in January 2021. After facing long waiting times and increasing pain that was becoming more frequent, he started to look elsewhere for treatment.
This content is intended for general information only and does not replace the need for personal advice from a qualified health professional.