Management of acoustic neuromas in the elderly: retrospective study.

The wide availability of gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI-Gd) has led to the discovery of an increasing number of small and less symptomatic acoustic neuromas in elderly patients. We conducted a retrospective study in order to obtain data on outcomes and complications associated with different management strategies that would be useful in establishing a management guideline. We identified 44 patients aged 65 to 77 years with acoustic neuromas who had been managed with either surgery or simple observation with MRI-Gd imaging. Of the entire group, 36 patients had tumors larger than 1 cm, and they underwent surgery (most via the translabyrinthine approach). Complete removal of the tumor was achieved in 34 of these patients (94.4%). At the 1-year follow-up, grade VI facial nerve paralysis was evident in only two of 35 evaluable patients (5.7%). Postsurgical complications occurred in five patients (13.9%), including one death. The remaining eight patients had tumors 1 cm or smaller, and they were managed with periodic MRI-Gd scanning. At the 5-year follow-up, no tumor growth was seen in six of these patients. The other two patients exhibited a tumor growth rate of less than 2 mm per year. No patient in the observation group required surgical intervention.