Is hearing preservation useful in vestibular schwannoma surgery?

The goal of our study was to examine the usefulness of preserved hearing after unilateral vestibular schwannoma removal. The patients were assessed by clinical evaluation, preoperative and postoperative audiometric evaluation, operative findings, and postoperative functional results. Hearing was preserved in 47 of 119 patients. The postoperative hearing was better than 30 dB in 10 patients. During the follow-up, the hearing decreased 5 dB on average, and almost all of the decrement occurred during the first 6 months. Subjectively, the preserved hearing assisted in understanding of speech in 62% of the patients. Tinnitus did not interfere with understanding of speech. The age of the patients was the most significant factor associated with preserved hearing. Sixty-six percent of the patients with hearing preservation rated their preserved hearing as valuable. Neither tinnitus nor speech distortion reduced the appreciation for hearing preservation. We conclude that efforts to preserve hearing are worthwhile.