Massive hemorrhage in acoustic neurinoma after minor head trauma--case report

Massive hemorrhage within an intracranial neurinoma occurs rarely. The authors describe a 62-year-old female with intratumoral bleeding which led to the discovery of an acoustic neurinoma. She developed a gait disturbance after a minor head injury. A computed tomographic scan obtained 2 months later demonstrated multiple high-density areas in the anterior portion of the left cerebellopontine angle. Preoperative diagnosis was acoustic neurinoma. The tumor had multiple cysts which contained a mixture of xanthochromic fluid and old, brownish hematomas, and was successfully removed. The intratumoral hemorrhage is thought to have resulted from traumatic rupture of the dilated vessels, although the trauma was slight. This is the first reported case of an acoustic neurinoma discovered through treatment for intratumoral hemorrhage occurring after a minor head injury.