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Updated: Oct 18, 2025
A Unified Methodological Framework for Vestibular Schwannoma Research
Published on: June 20, 2017
Growing versus non-growing vestibular schwannomas: assessment of natural history
A Dardis1, K Donghun1, G Kontorinis1,2
1Medical School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Objective:
Vestibular schwannomas can demonstrate great heterogeneity in their behaviour; approximately one-third will grow and two-thirds will not. This study aimed to determine whether there are factors present at diagnosis that can help predict outcomes.
Methods:
This retrospective cohort study compared data from 735 patients from the past 20 years. Analysis of serial magnetic resonance imaging was carried out to place patients into growing and non-growing cohorts. Factors including size, age, follow-up time and presence of balance symptoms were compared.
Results:
The median size of a growing vestibular schwannoma at diagnosis was 13 mm, whereas the non-growing median size was 10.65 mm (p < 0.001). Balance symptoms were present in 60.76 per cent of growing vestibular schwannoma patients but only in 38.75 per cent of patients with non-growing vestibular schwannomas (p < 0.001).
Conclusion:
This study highlights initial tumour size and balance symptoms as potential predictors of whether or not a vestibular schwannoma will grow; these results better facilitate our understanding of vestibular schwannoma natural history.
