Nerve tumor 8: causes and treatment

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was consulted with Dr. To Kim Sang - Oncology Center, Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital.
Many people are often subjective with seemingly simple symptoms such as tinnitus without knowing it could be a sign of neuroma 8. The following article will provide readers with basic information about neuroma. neuroma 8 as causes and treatments for nerve 8.

1. What is 8th nerve tumor?

8th neuroma is also known as vestibular schwannoma or acoustic neuroma. This is not cancer but just a type of benign brain tumor that originates from the 8th cranial nerve of the brain. 8 neuromas account for about 8% of intracranial tumors in adults and account for 80-90% of tumors in the cerebellar pons.
The 8th cranial nerve (or vestibular cochlear nerve) is made up of nerves that connect the inner ear to the brain. The nerve cells that surround this nerve are called Schwann cells.
8 nerve tumor can affect one or both ears. This tumor, if not diagnosed and treated promptly, can compress other important structures in the brain leading to hearing loss, even more dangerous, life-threatening.
8 nerve tumor is a disease that can be found in anyone, regardless of gender or age. However, the majority of the disease occurs in people between the ages of 30 and 60 years.

2. Symptoms of 8 neuroma

The initial symptoms are usually hearing loss, and the process is slow. Other symptoms that can occur in people with 8th nerve tumors are a feeling of loss of balance, tinnitus (hearing a hissing sound or ringing in the ears). In addition, when the tumor grows, it can press on other nerves, leading to a feeling of numbness in the face or even paralysis of the facial muscles. Especially when the tumor presses on a part of the brain, the patient will often have headaches, confusion or difficulty in walking or even death if the tumor spreads and compresses a lot.
There are also some other symptoms not mentioned. When detecting any abnormal manifestations related to hearing or related to balance problems, numbness on one side of the face, ringing in the ears with headache, dizziness, you should go to medical facilities for treatment. be examined and diagnosed as soon as possible.

3. Causes of acoustic neuroma

The growth of the tumor stemmed from the fact that around the 8th nerve there were too many Schwann cells.
Bilateral 8th neuroma is one of the clinical features of the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis (neurofibromatosis type 2). The cause of this condition may be due to a damaged neurofibromin 2 gene on chromosome 22. Normally, that gene makes a tumor suppressor protein (merlin or schwannomin) that controls the growth of Schwann cells. A change in this gene causes Schwann cells to grow and form a tumor. However, the cause of that gene's failure has not been clearly determined and is being continued to be studied.
Among them, unilateral tumor is a rare condition and is not usually inherited. 8 neuromas are not contagious or spread from person to person.

4. Methods of diagnosis and treatment of acoustic neuroma

4.1 Diagnostic technique for neuroma 8 For patients with suspicious symptoms, the doctor will order to conduct a hearing test, neurological examination by audiogram. In addition, a brain CT scan or an MRI (magnetic resonance) brain scan may also be required to diagnose neuroma 8.
An early diagnosis is essential and important. This helps the doctor to accurately determine the patient's condition, thereby giving the appropriate treatment.
4.2 Surgery, radiotherapy Treatment methods for neuroma 8 commonly applied include surgery, radiation therapy and monitoring. The doctor will base on the growth rate and size of the tumor, the degree of functional impairment, age, history and surgical risks to make treatment decisions.
Surgery is considered the most commonly used treatment. Especially for small tumors, surgery can effectively save hearing and improve the condition of the disease. However, for larger tumors, surgery is quite complicated.
Besides traditional surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery also helps control 8th nerve tumor in some specific cases. This is a method of radiation therapy that delivers high doses of radiation therapy to the tumor with the help of highly accurate tumor locating systems that limit the impact on other areas around the radiotherapy site.

The doctor will prescribe the treatment methods depending on the specific patient's condition:
People with poor health, the elderly or people with tumors affecting both ears are often prioritized for radiation therapy to limit tumor growth and reduce their size. In cases where surgery or radiation therapy is not possible, or where the tumor is small, incidentally discovered and has not changed in size, the doctor may order periodic repeat brain MRI to monitor the tumor. Above is basic information about the causes as well as common treatments commonly used for neuroma 8 (auditory nerve). Based on the above symptoms, patients can detect their disease early and go to medical facilities for timely examination and diagnosis.
Currently, the TrueBeam at Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital is the most modern accelerator in Vietnam and compared to other countries in the region. This system in addition to performing advanced radiotherapy techniques such as IMRT radiation therapy, VMAT also performs the most advanced radiosurgery techniques such as SRS and SBRT. In addition, the Optical Surface Monitoring System (OSMS) is also a modern system that helps to observe the patient's head movement and supports the accurate emission to millimeters. The patient does not need to drill the skull to attach the external fixed frame like radiotherapy with the Gamma Knife system.

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