Enhanced retrosigmoid exposure with posterior semicircular canal resection.

A subset of patients with acoustic neuromas and useful hearing have tumors that are inadequately approached by both middle fossa and retrosigmoid techniques. The enhanced retrosigmoid technique combines the hearing preservation of posterior semicircular canal ablation to achieve lateral internal auditory canal exposure with the ample cerebel-lopontine angle exposure of the standard retrosigmoid technique.