De Ridder Dirk, Menovsky Tomas, Van Laer Carl, Van de Heyning Paul
Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Antwerp, 2650 Edegem, Belgium.
Surg Neurol. 2008 Sep;70(3):312-7; discussion 318. doi: 10.1016/j.surneu.2007.04.014. Epub 2008 Feb 8.
Sudden sensorineural deafness is a well-known symptom mostly of unknown etiology.
A case of sudden sensorineural deafness is reported to be caused by a small, remote, ipsilateral tentorial meningioma not compressing the vestibulocochlear nerve or auditory tract. Surgical resection of the meningioma immediately restored the patient's hearing.
The authors hypothesize that the sudden sensorineural deafness resulted from a growing meningioma inducing a neurovascular compression of the vestibulocochlear nerve, the vertebral artery already being in close relationship with the vestibulocochlear nerve in the premorbid phase. Resection of the meningioma allows for an autodecompression of this vascular conflict resulting in hearing restoration.