The Combined TL-RS Approach: Advantages and Disadvantages of Working 360 Degrees around the Sigmoid Sinus.

 To highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the combined translabyrinthine (TL) and classic retrosigmoid (RS) approaches.  Retrospective chart review.  National tertiary referral center for skull base pathology.

The Course of Hearing Loss in Patients With a Progressive Vestibular Schwannoma.

Objective: This study evaluates the natural course of hearing loss (HL) prior to treatment in patients with progressive tumors and an indication for active intervention. Evaluating this patient group specifically can put hearing outcomes after vestibular schwannoma therapy into an adequate context.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

A prediction model for recurrence after translabyrinthine surgery for vestibular schwannoma: toward personalized postoperative surveillance.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to compute and validate a statistical predictive model for the risk of recurrence, defined as regrowth of tumor necessitating salvage treatment, after translabyrinthine removal of vestibular schwannomas to individualize postoperative surveillance.

Methods: The multivariable predictive model for risk of recurrence was based on retrospectively collected patient data between 1995 and 2017 at a tertiary referral center. To assess for internal validity of the prediction model tenfold cross-validation was performed.

Prognostic Factors for the Outcome of Translabyrinthine Surgery for Vestibular Schwannomas.

Objective: To identify predictors of tumor recurrence and postoperative facial nerve function after translabyrinthine surgery for unilateral vestibular schwannomas.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Tertiary referral center.

Clinical Predictors Leading to Change of Initial Conservative Treatment of 836 Vestibular Schwannomas.

 This study was aimed to determine the role of clinical presentation and tumor characteristics in vestibular schwannoma (VS) at diagnosis, initially treated with conservative management.  The study was designed as a retrospective chart review.  The study was prepared at national tertiary referral center for VS patients.

Pediatric Auditory Brainstem Implant Users Compared With Cochlear Implant Users With Additional Disabilities.

Objectives: To evaluate long-term language development in children with prelingual deafness who received auditory brainstem implants (ABIs) compared with children who received cochlear implants (CIs) at the same hospital. Additional non-auditory disabilities were taken into account.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Mathematical Models for Tumor Growth and the Reduction of Overtreatment.

 To improve our understanding of the natural course of head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGL) and ultimately differentiate between cases that benefit from early treatment and those that are best left untreated, we studied the growth dynamics of 77 HNPGL managed with primary observation.  Using digitally available magnetic resonance images, tumor volume was estimated at three time points. Subsequently, nonlinear least squares regression was used to fit seven mathematical models to the observed growth data.

Clinical progression and metachronous paragangliomas in a large cohort of SDHD germline variant carriers.

Although it is well established that paternally transmitted germline variants in SDHD are associated with multifocal paragangliomas and lifelong follow-up is generally advised, the risk of metachronous lesions is presently unknown. In a large Dutch cohort of SDHD variant carriers, we studied the development of new paragangliomas, and the evolution of symptoms and cranial nerve impairment. Recurrent event analysis and the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator were used to study the risk of new lesions.

BCRP expression in schwannoma, plexiform neurofibroma and MPNST.

Background: peripheral nerve sheath tumors comprise a broad spectrum of neoplasms. Vestibular schwannomas and plexiform neurofibromas are symptomatic albeit benign, but a subset of the latter pre-malignant lesions will transform to malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST). Surgery and radiotherapy are the primary strategies to treat these tumors.

Age and Tumor Volume Predict Growth of Carotid and Vagal Body Paragangliomas.

 Treatment for head and neck paragangliomas (HNGPL) can be more harmful than the disease. After diagnosis, an initial period of surveillance is often indicated, and surgery or radiotherapy is reserved for progressive disease. With the aim to optimize this "wait and scan" strategy, we studied growth and possible predictors.

Quality of Life in 807 Patients with Vestibular Schwannoma: Comparing Treatment Modalities.

Objective In vestibular schwannoma treatment, the choice among treatment modalities is controversial. The first aim of this study was to examine the quality of life of patients with vestibular schwannoma having undergone observation, radiation therapy, or microsurgical resection. The second aim was to examine the relationship between perceived symptoms and quality of life.

Real Incidence of Vestibular Schwannoma? Estimations From a National Registry.

Objective: To identify incidence of vestibular schwannoma (VS) in The Netherlands. Determining incidence of VS poses considerable challenges given the lack of complete epidemiologic data.

Study Design: Retrospective patient review.

The art of perception: Patients drawing their vestibular schwannoma.

Objectives/hypothesis: Drawings made by patients are an innovative way to assess the perceptions of patients on their illness. The objective of this study, at a university tertiary referral center, on patients who have recently been diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma, was to examine whether patients' illness perceptions can be assessed by drawings and are related to their quality of life.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Tumor Biology of Vestibular Schwannoma: A Review of Experimental Data on the Determinants of Tumor Genesis and Growth Characteristics.

Objective: Provide an overview of the literature on vestibular schwannoma biology with special attention to tumor behavior and targeted therapy.

Background: Vestibular schwannomas are benign tumors originating from the eighth cranial nerve and arise due to inactivation of the NF2 gene and its product merlin. Unraveling the biology of these tumors helps to clarify their growth pattern and is essential in identifying therapeutic targets.

Emotional intelligence in association with quality of life in patients recently diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma.

Objective: The objective of this study was two-fold. First, to examine the levels of emotional intelligence in patients recently diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma, in comparison to those of healthy individuals and patients with other physical illness. Second, to evaluate the correlation between Emotional Intelligence and quality of life.

Validating the Penn Acoustic Neuroma Quality Of Life Scale in a sample of Dutch patients recently diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma.

Objective: To examine the validity of the Penn Acoustic Neuroma Quality-of-Life Scale (PANQOL) in a sample of Dutch patients recently diagnosed with vestibular schwannoma.

Study Design And Setting: Cross-sectional study in a university tertiary referral center.

Methods: Between April 2011 and March 2012 consecutive patients (mean age, 56.

Tumor-associated macrophages are related to volumetric growth of vestibular schwannomas.

Hypothesis: Tumor-associated macrophages contribute to vestibular schwannoma development.

Objective: An important clinical problem regarding vestibular schwannoma treatment is their variable growth rate. Tumor biological research can help to clarify this growth rate and may offer targets for therapy.

Mutations affecting BRAF, EGFR, PIK3CA, and KRAS are not associated with sporadic vestibular schwannomas.

Sporadic vestibular schwannomas are benign tumors originating from the Schwann cells of the vestibular portion of the eigth cranial nerve. An important clinical hallmark of these tumors is their variable growth rate. Investigating vestibular schwannoma biology can help to clarify this variable growth rate and may offer targets for therapeutic treatment.

Intratumoral hemorrhage, vessel density, and the inflammatory reaction contribute to volume increase of sporadic vestibular schwannomas.

Vestibular schwannomas show a large variation in growth rate, making prediction and anticipation of tumor growth difficult. More accurate prediction of clinical behavior requires better understanding of tumor biological factors influencing tumor progression. Biological processes like intratumoral hemorrhage, cell proliferation, microvessel density, and inflammation were analyzed in order to determine their role in vestibular schwannoma development.

Normal life expectancy for paraganglioma patients: a 50-year-old cohort revisited.

The objective of this study was to assess the long-term survival of patients with a paraganglioma of the head and neck compared with the survival of the general Dutch population. This historic cohort study was conducted using nationwide historical data of paraganglioma patients. We retrieved a cohort of 86 patients diagnosed with a paraganglioma of the head and neck between 1945 and 1960 in the Netherlands.

Conservative treatment of vestibular schwannoma: a follow-up study on clinical and quality-of-life outcome.

Objective: To determine the natural history and long-term quality-of-life (QOL) outcome after conservative treatment for vestibular schwannoma.

Study Design: Prospective study conducted in a university-based tertiary referral center.

Patients: A total of 70 vestibular schwannoma patients who were initially included in the wait and scan protocol between January 2002 and December 2003 were followed with a mean observation time of 43 months.

A meta-analysis of surgical treatment for vestibular schwannoma: is hospital volume related to preservation of facial function?

Objective: To investigate the relation between hospital volume and preservation ratios of facial function in surgery for vestibular schwannoma.

Data Sources: A meta-analysis was conducted on current literature concerning preservation ratios of facial function after surgical resection of vestibular schwannoma. Studies reported by the House-Brackmann grading system for facial function were searched; all studies were published in English in peer-reviewed journals between 1992 and 2007.

The Dutch founder mutation SDHD.D92Y shows a reduced penetrance for the development of paragangliomas in a large multigenerational family.

Germline mutations in SDHD predispose to the development of head and neck paragangliomas, and phaeochromocytomas. The risk of developing a tumor depends on the sex of the parent who transmits the mutation: paragangliomas only arise upon paternal transmission. In this study, both the risk of paraganglioma and phaeochromocytoma formation, and the risk of developing associated symptoms were investigated in 243 family members with the SDHD.