[Irradiation of neurinoma. Why? How? First results]

The treatment of acoustic neurinomas is above all surgical. Five situations lead us to opt for radiotherapy: the patient's poor general condition, tumoral bilaterality with a single ear, tumoral remnants, evolutive recurrences or relapses and lastly, tumoral hypervascularization (pre-operative radiotherapy). Therefore, 19 patients were treated between 1986 and 1988 by linear accelerator photons or cobalt, at doses of 50 to 60 Gy (1.8 Gy per session). Indubitable effectiveness was observed on the tumoral volume in the form of stabilization or regression in 14 cases. The evolution of hearing after treatment is not as favorable: out of 8 patients with good hearing on the irradiated side, 3 maintained identical thresholds, but 5 secondarily developed total deafness. The therapeutic protocol change will perhaps allow for improvement in hearing preservation.