Acute hearing loss following fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery for acoustic neuroma - Report of two cases

Two cases of acute hearing loss are reported following fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery for acoustic neuroma. Both patients had neurofibromatosis type 2 and were treated with a peripheral tumor dose of 21 Gy delivered in three fractions (7 Gy each) with a minimum interfraction interval of 10 hours. One patient who had previously undergone surgical resection of the treated tumor presented with only rudimentary hearing in the treated ear secondary to an abrupt decrease in hearing prior to treatment. That patient reported total loss of hearing before complete delivery of the third fraction. The second patient had moderately impaired hearing prior to treatment; however, within 10 hours after delivery of the final fraction, he lust all hearing. Both patients showed no improvement in response to glucocorticoid therapy. Possible explanations for this phenomenon are presented.