Effective preoperative irradiation of highly vascular cerebellopontine angle neurinomas

Three cases of large cerebellopontine angle neurinoma with marked vascularity and tumor staining on the angiogram were treated with effective preoperative irradiation. The radiotherapy was given before the second operation in two cases and before the first operation in the other case. Irradiation doses administered with a linear accelerator were 2.34 to 3.0 Gy for 3 to 3.5 weeks, and radical operations were done 1.5 to 2 months after irradiation. After the irradiation, vertebral angiography showed moderate to marked decrease of the hypervascular capsular stain and disappearance of the early draining vein. Computed tomographic scan showed enlargement of the central necrotic area within the heterogeneously enhanced tumor, which was unchanged in size. Radical operations, which had been impossible because of uncontrollable massive bleeding, were successful without any intraoperative bleeding after radiotherapy. Postirradiation radiological findings corresponded well with those of histopathological examination, which showed decrease in cellularity and in vascularity and diffuse coagulation necrosis around the collapsed tumoral vessels as radiation effects. Preoperative irradiation of the hypervascular neurinoma was though to facilitate radical surgery by abolishing or diminishing the risk of intraoperative bleeding.