#MayoClinicNeuroChat on Acoustic Neuromas with Dr. Weisskopf

What in your opinion is the best approach for a small 2mm acoustic neuroma in my right ear when I have left ear deafness from translabrynth acoustic neuroma surgery 6 months ago? I fear for total deafness if the right tumor grows as quickly to 28mm in 10 years as my left tumor did. I am 59 years old.

I am 25 years old and I had my 4.9 cm AN partially removed back in 2014. Following my first surgery, I had facial paralysis for a few weeks that I was able to correct with facial exercises. Now it is starting to grow again and I'm concerned about undergoing CyberKnife radiation. I'll be having 5 sessions (each 1 hour) of radiation over a week and a half this summer and I'm concerned about facial paralysis and regrowth again after this procedure. What is the success rate of CyberKnife procedures? Is facial paralysis something I should be concerned about again?
Thanks!

Welcome to Connect, @meganrichter and @monirose. I look forward to your participation in the upcoming Video Q&A with Drs. Bendok & Weisskopf. In the meantime, I'd like to introduce you to others talking about acoustic neuromas. Please check out these discussions:

- Anyone else diagnosed with acoustic neuroma, a benign brain tumor? http://mayocl.in/2iVdye1
- Acoustic neuroma, avoid antioxidants? http://mayocl.in/2oWmMe4

Hi @sharonmarie @rosesareredmylove2016, @tracylynnedaley72 @katfred @pedie @jrismyname @amkaloha @kkkk @lindalb @hoosier and @cynaburst. I'd like to invite you to join us on Friday, April 28, 3:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. CT/ 6:00 p.m. ET) for a video Q&A with Dr. Bernard Bendok, neurosurgeon, and Dr. Peter Weisskopf, Neurotologist, for a chat on Acoustic Neuromas

Simply click View & Reply in the email notification to see all the details and to sign-up.

Drs. Bendok & Weisskopf will answer questions live. You do not need a Facebook account; you can participate in the Video Q&A right here on Connect by returning to this page and the video will be shown at the top of the page. You can post your question here before or during the presentation. I hope you'll join us.

I would love to sign up for this. Kat

Could you discuss the advantages and disadvantages of gamma knife and why not use it to shrink a tumor that growing before more symptoms arise.

I am due for another MRI this spring. The first one a year ago showed a peanut-size acoustic neuroma on my right side. My ENT doctor suggested wait and watch and radiation, if and when necessary. Over several years, the only symptoms I noticed were gradual hearing loss in my right ear, ringing and a clicking in my ears Also, I was told that radiation could cause cancer in 2% of the cases. Acoustic Neuroma is even rarer than that! Surgery seems to leave patients with many other problems. Are there any new immuno therapy type drugs to treat acoutic neuromas now? There are some new drugs to treat cancer tumors I have read. Where is the best experienced doctor and place to have radiation treatment - in or near Illinois? (I am a 69-year-old female.)

It was an MRI that revealed the neuroma--and showed the hydrocephalis. The neurosurgeon put a shunt into my brain, which really helped with balance, mental alertness, etc. He recommended that we do nothing with the neuroma. I've read that that surgery is really difficult, and after the first brain surgery, I would rather follow his judgment and wait. The neuroma destroyed the hearing in my right ear, but the EMT doc found a hearing aid that is meant for a person who deals with this. In the right hearing aid is nothing but a microphone, which transmits sound to the left aid. Works fairly well. I am treated at Shands at the U. of Florida.
Good luck.

Does Mayo still regard endoscopic removal of acoustic neuroma an unsatisfactory approach and , if so, why? I realize it can only be applied to smaller tumors. I will also be able to check for any information on the chat the 25th. Thank you.

Hello:,
I didn't know The Mayo did endoscopic for brain tumors.
When I had my Brain surgery, I had 4 neurosurgeons who did my surgery, and they flip-flopped every 4 hours, each doing a separate part of my surgery,
Endoscopic for brain surgery??I ve never heard of it at the mayo...