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Updated: Mar 20, 2026
A Unified Methodological Framework for Vestibular Schwannoma Research
Published on: June 20, 2017
The possibility of seeding vestibular schwannomas through surgery: Limited experience with two cases
Florian Roser1, Florian Heinrich Ebner2, Marco Skardelly2
1Department of Neurosurgery, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Background:
We present two exceptional cases of possible tumor seeding in benign vestibular schwannoma (VS) patients occurring years after initial microsurgical resection.
Case Description:
We retrospectively analyzed the surgical management, histology and documented the growth of new tumor occurrence in close vicinity of the original schwannomas by serial magnetic resonance imaging over a period of 10 years. None of the patients had stigmata of neurofibromatosis, making it a reasonable assumption that the second tumor was due to surgical seeding during the first surgery. Moreover, in the second case, a microsurgical re-exploration showed that the recurrent tumor did not show any adhesion or contact to the caudal cranial nerves as anticipated had this been a new cranial nerve schwannoma.
Conclusions:
Surgical seeding of VSs is a rare complication but can occur despite benign histology and generous irrigation during surgery.
