7th and 8th nerve....

[tatianne]

on my mri it says that my AN is compressing my 7th and 8th nerve.....
I was going to look this up but i know someone here knows the answer,
the 7th and 8th nerve are responsible for what exactly ??

TY
T

[HeadCase2]

T,
  Here's the brief version of what the cranial nerves do:
Cranial Nerve Name Main Function
Cranial Nerve 1 Olfactory Nerve Smell
Cranial Nerve 2 Optic Nerve Vision
Cranial Nerve 3 Oculomotor Nerve Eye movement
Cranial Nerve 4 Trochlear Nerve Eye movement
Cranial Nerve 5 Trigeminal Nerve Facial sensation
Cranial Nerve 6 Abducens Nerve Eye movement
Cranial Nerve 7 Facial Nerve Facial movement
Cranial Nerve 8 Auditory Nerve Hearing and balance
Cranial Nerve 9 Glossopharyngeal Nerve Organs and Taste
Cranial Nerve 10 Vagus Nerve Organs and Taste
Cranial Nerve 11 Accessory Nerve Shoulder shrug & head turn
Cranial Nerve 12 Hypoglossal Nerve Tongue movement

 For more detailed info google cranial nerves.
Regards,
 Rob

[tatianne]

thank you, that is a perfect answer to my question.

in other words this an is most likely to affect, my hearing, my balance and my facial nerve.

Just trying to figure out exactly where things are.
Thanks again for the quick answer.
T

[tony]

It is certinally true that these nerves are potentially at risk
- equally its not so easy to determin the extent of the risk
no two A.N. cases are exactly identical - and some nerves
seem to survive better than others
Maybe just hearsay - but surgeons seems to say that the facial
nerve seems to take rather more handling than the hearing nerves
I`ve no stats to prove that one - maybe others will know
Best Regards
Tony

[amymeri]

Those are typically the nerves affected by ANs with the addition of the 6th and 5th which are in that same zip code.  The 5th nerve is responsible for facial sensation and the teeth gritting/jaw clenching movement.  The 7th controls not only movement of the face but also some saliva production and tear production, blinking, some sensation on the face and some related hearing things.  The 8th nerve really has three roles including the balance issues and hearing.

While it is hard to save the 8th nerve because with tumor removal the blood supply to the nerve is destroyed, but if the 7yj nerve is compressed and not encased in the tumor then it might be saved intact and hopefully save your facial function!