Trigeminal neurinomas: operative approach in eight cases

Abstract

The authors report eight cases of trigeminal neurinoma managed over the past 13 years with radical resection at a single-stage operation. Three patients were male and five were female, ranging in age from 25 to 56 years (mean 41.5 years). One had von Recklinghausen's disease. The tumors were located mainly within the middle fossa in two cases and within the posterior fossa in two, and extended both supra-and infratentorially in four cases. Facial pain and hearing disturbance were the main symptoms, with various other symptoms such as focal seizures, hemiparesis, gait disturbance, increased intracranial pressure, and visual disturbance also being noted. All patients underwent radical tumor resection with either a transpetrosal transtentorial or orbitozygomatic infratemporal surgical approach; the approach depended on the topography of the tumor. Total removal was performed in all cases. Only one patient, treated early in the series, required a second operation to remove the tumor completely. In another case the tumor recurred 5 years after the operation. There has been no operative mortality, but injury or permanent damage to the trigeminal branches was inevitable in many cases. The surgical results were excellent in three patients and good in five.