Hearing preservation surgery in acoustic neuroma: long-term results.

Long-term hearing was examined in 200 patients operated on during 1976-2000 with removal of acoustic neuroma with a retrosigmoid approach and hearing preservation technique. Ninety-four cases preserved hearing, and 91 cases were followed-up for at least 6 years (range 6 to 21 years). Hearing was measured with the PTA 0.5 KHz to 4 KHz and the SDS, and followed the guidelines of the American Academy of Otolaryngology and Head Neck Surgery (AAOHNS classification). Change (or stability) of the short to long-term class was the main outcome measure. Postoperative hearing of class A and B was preserved at long-term and within class B in 87% of cases. A total of 13% presented a decrease of class to C or D. Small size and good preoperative hearing correlated with good short- and long-term hearing [corrected].