ANA Discussion Forum
Pre-Treatment Options => Pre-Treatment Options => Topic started by: YousefAN on August 29, 2014, 10:47:26 pm
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Hello all,
I have a recent diagnosis of AN after having symptoms of hearing loss and tinnitus. I am 26 years old and have no other current significant medical problems. My AN is 8 x 8 x 9 mm in size. I am trying to decide between surgery and gamma knife. I currently have fully functional hearing level with only a mild degree of loss. I'd like to hear any opinions/experiences between the two regarding the size of my AN and the related risks between each treatment options?
Also if there are any good websites/articles I can read that were helpful about AN?
Thanks
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We can only give you our own experiences.
In my case my AN hearing was about 90% gone when I was diagnosed with a 3mm x 4mm x 9mm AN. Six months later the AN had grown about 20% and the hearing on that side was 100% gone.
There are surgical techniques that might preserve hearing and Gamma Knife has also been shown to preserve hearing in some cases.
Here is some material I've gathered.
http://www.myacoustic.org/steven-chang-interview-acoustic-neuroma-treatment.html
http://thejns.org/doi/pdf/10.3171/2012.7.GKS12783
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/857604-overview#showall
http://www.panarabneurosurgery.org.sa/journal/October2008/p1-10%20(551).pdf
Google "acoustic neuroma hearing preservation" or some such and you'll probably find additional resources.
I suggest, however, that time is not your friend if you want to preserve your hearing.