[Analysis of misdiagnostic acoustic neuroma]

72 cases (74 tumors) of acoustic neuroma pathologically confirmed after operation were analysed with special regard to the misdiagnosis made in their initial seeking for medical advice from ENT doctors. The average period of misdiagnosis was 5.48 years. The disease entities that the acoustic neuroma had been mistaken for were sensorineural hearing loss of unknown origin, idiopathic sudden deafness, tinnitus of unknown origin, cervical osteophytosis, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, etc. Emphasis was placed on the discussion of various causes of misdiagnosis.