| The large mass on the right side of this patient's MRI scan represents a large vestibular schwannoma. This patient had an operation at another university hospital using a retromastoid approach which resulted in partial facial weakness and complete hearing loss. Because the tumor extends upward and this portion was not removed, the patient suffered from terrible facial pain as a result of pressure on the trigeminal nerve. Because the patient's hearing had already been scarified by the previous surgery, Dr. Sampson elected to perform a resection using the translabyrinthine approach in order to visualize the facial nerve well and minimize the risks of further damaging this already injured facial nerve. Using this approach this tumor was completely removed and postoperatively the patient's facial nerve was no weaker than it had been previously. However, three months after the surgery, probably because of the complete tumor removal, the patient's facial nerve functioned even better than before surgery. |
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