Durability of Hearing Preservation Following Microsurgical Resection of Vestibular Schwannoma.

Objective: To ascertain long-term hearing outcomes in patients with serviceable hearing following microsurgical resection of sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS).

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Tertiary academic referral center.

Patients: Forty-three adult subjects with unilateral sporadic VS who had serviceable hearing (American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery [AAO-HNS] class A or B) on initial postoperative audiogram following microsurgical resection between 2003 and 2016 with a minimum of two postoperative audiograms available for review.

Intervention: Surgical treatment with a retrosigmoid or middle cranial fossa approach.

Main Outcome Measure: Rate of maintaining serviceable hearing, as estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, in accordance with the 1995 and 2012 AAO-HNS guidelines on reporting hearing outcomes.

Results: The median immediate postoperative pure-tone average (PTA) and word recognition score (WRS) were 31 dB and 95%, respectively. At last follow-up, the median PTA was 38 dB with a median change of 5 dB from initial postoperative audiogram, and the median WRS was 90% with a median change of 0% from initial postoperative audiogram. Eight patients developed non-serviceable hearing at a median of 4.1 years following microsurgical resection (interquartile range, 2.9-7.0). The median duration of hearing follow-up for the 35 patients who maintained serviceable hearing was 3.1 years (interquartile range, 2.2-7.5). Tumor control was achieved in 41 (95%) patients. The rate of maintaining serviceable hearing at 5 years was 81%.

Conclusion: Microsurgical resection provides excellent tumor control and durable long-term hearing in those with AAO-HNS class A or B hearing postoperatively. The paradigm of proactive microsurgical resection-when the tumor is small and hearing is good-hinges on the surgeon's ability to preserve residual hearing in a very high percentage of cases at or near preoperative hearing levels to maintain an advantage over conservative observation with regard to long-term hearing preservation.