Objective: To describe the clinical significance of tumor-associated hemorrhage in patients with acoustic neuromas.
Study design: Retrospective chart review.
Setting: University-based, tertiary care teaching hospital.
Patients: Three patients with acoustic neuromas who experienced symptomatic tumoral bleeding.
Interventions: Radiographic imaging, surgical removal of tumors, and pathologic analysis.
Main outcome measures: Patient histories, radiologic characteristics, surgical results, and pathologic findings.
Results: Tumoral hemorrhage can occur in patients with acoustic neuromas. These three cases and a review of the world literature suggest that tumor size may be the most important risk factor for tumor-related hemorrhage.
Conclusion: These findings have implications for those patients with acoustic neuromas who choose not to have surgical removal.