In article <D225GA.Bw6 at murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>, mlm2s at galen.med.Virginia.EDU (Mallory Leslie McClure) says:
>>We have talked about acoustic neuromas a few times in class.
>We have been told that the major deficit to patients with respect to the 8th
>cranial nerve is loss of hearing.
This is true, the signs and symptoms include unilateral signs of hearing loss
in the high frequencies, tinnitus, and marked reduction in understanding
speech.
>We have been told that balance is less likely to be damaged.
>A clinician lecturing the class proposed that the reason why
>balance is spared usually is because the lesion is slow-growing
>and therefore patients have time to adapt to vestibular losses.
>How plausible an explanation is this?
This does appear to be the case...
>How often do patients with
>acoutic neuromas actually have vestibular deficits? When
>vestibular deficits are present, what is their degree of
>severity? Thanks.
Most patients do not expereince vestibular signs until the growth
becomes rather large, but I am open for rebutal on this...
Keep in mind that the signs and symptoms of an acoustic neuroma
are mainly manifested in auditory complaints. Ironically, the
origin of most acoustic neuromas is from the Schwann cells covering
the vestibular portion of the 8th cranial nerve (vestibular schwannoma).
>>Just trying to keep my balance,
>--M.McClure
Jeff Sirianni
University of Texas at Austin
Communication Sciences and Disorders
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