Vertigo in cerebellopontine angle tumor Patients

Cerebellopontine angle tumors are a group of tumors that originate from the posterior cranial fossa. Most of them are acoustic neuromas arising from the Schwann cell sheath of the vestibular branch of VIII cranial nerve. Those benign tumors usually present with unilateral hearing loss (53–57%), tinnitus (79–82%), and vertigo/imbalance (18–50%). The objective of this study was documentation-based evaluation of 53 out of 96 patients that received surgical treatment in the ENT Department of Medical University in Warsaw during the period from May 2012 to May 2014, with special consideration of vertigo/imbalance in relation to other symptoms. Statictical analysis has shown larger frequency of vertigo/imbalance in patients with mild to moderate hearing loss and positive corelation between the largest diameter of the tumor and the vestibular deficit in VNG (videonystagmography). The corelation of vestibular deficit in VNG and imbalance symptoms was only estabilished in the group with intrameatal localization of the tumor (T1).