Biomaterial Database

Audiovestibular tests in the diagnosis of cerebellopontine angle tumours. 1988

H Harder

Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital, Linköping, Sweden.

Symptoms and signs were recorded in a series of 78 patients with a cerebello-pontine-angle (CPA) tumour and in 92 patients with symptoms and signs suggestive of such a lesion but with a negative CT scan. Variable symptomatology was found in the tumour cases. A substantial proportion of the patients had experienced sudden phenomena such as rotatory vertigo and/or sudden hearing loss. A CPA tumour must therefore be considered in almost every case of unilateral auditory or vestibular disturbances. Unfortunately, conventional audiovestibular tests have a low sensitivity of around 50%, with the exception of stapedial reflex threshold elevation (89%). The specificity on the other hand is quite low for this test, whereas other test results, like a genuinely pathological stapedial reflex decay, carry a high specificity of 60%. However, brainstem response audiometry (BRA) exhibited a very high sensitivity (100%) coupled with a reasonable specificity (54%), making it a suitable single test for screening patients suspected of having a CPA tumour. A program for the diagnostic work-up is suggested.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009464	Neuroma, Acoustic	A benign SCHWANNOMA of the eighth cranial nerve (VESTIBULOCOCHLEAR NERVE), mostly arising from the vestibular branch (VESTIBULAR NERVE) during the fifth or sixth decade of life. Clinical manifestations include HEARING LOSS; HEADACHE; VERTIGO; TINNITUS; and FACIAL PAIN. Bilateral acoustic neuromas are associated with NEUROFIBROMATOSIS 2. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p673)	Acoustic Neuroma,Melanocytic Vestibular Schwannoma,Schwannoma, Acoustic,Schwannoma, Vestibular,Acoustic Neuroma, Cerebellopontine Angle,Acoustic Tumor,Angle Tumor,Cerebellopontine Angle Acoustic Neuroma,Cerebellopontine Angle Tumor,Neurilemmoma, Acoustic,Neurilemoma, Acoustic,Neurinoma of the Acoustic Nerve,Neurinoma, Acoustic,Neuroma, Acoustic, Unilateral,Vestibular Schwannoma,Acoustic Neurilemmoma,Acoustic Neurilemmomas,Acoustic Neurilemoma,Acoustic Neurilemomas,Acoustic Neurinoma,Acoustic Neurinomas,Acoustic Neuromas,Acoustic Schwannoma,Acoustic Schwannomas,Acoustic Tumors,Angle Tumor, Cerebellopontine,Angle Tumors,Angle Tumors, Cerebellopontine,Cerebellopontine Angle Tumors,Melanocytic Vestibular Schwannomas,Neurilemmomas, Acoustic,Neurilemomas, Acoustic,Neurinomas, Acoustic,Neuromas, Acoustic,Schwannoma, Melanocytic Vestibular,Schwannomas, Acoustic,Schwannomas, Melanocytic Vestibular,Schwannomas, Vestibular,Tumor, Acoustic,Tumor, Angle,Tumor, Cerebellopontine Angle,Tumors, Acoustic,Tumors, Angle,Tumors, Cerebellopontine Angle,Vestibular Schwannoma, Melanocytic,Vestibular Schwannomas,Vestibular Schwannomas, Melanocytic
D012022	Reflex, Acoustic	Intra-aural contraction of tensor tympani and stapedius in response to sound.	Acoustic Reflex
D003937	Diagnosis, Differential	Determination of which one of two or more diseases or conditions a patient is suffering from by systematically comparing and contrasting results of diagnostic measures.	Diagnoses, Differential,Differential Diagnoses,Differential Diagnosis
D004584	Electronystagmography	Recording of nystagmus based on changes in the electrical field surrounding the eye produced by the difference in potential between the cornea and the retina.	Electronystagmographies
D005260	Female		Females
D006313	Hearing Loss, Central	Hearing loss due to disease of the AUDITORY PATHWAYS (in the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM) which originate in the COCHLEAR NUCLEI of the PONS and then ascend bilaterally to the MIDBRAIN, the THALAMUS, and then the AUDITORY CORTEX in the TEMPORAL LOBE. Bilateral lesions of the auditory pathways are usually required to cause central hearing loss. Cortical deafness refers to loss of hearing due to bilateral auditory cortex lesions. Unilateral BRAIN STEM lesions involving the cochlear nuclei may result in unilateral hearing loss.	Central Hearing Loss,Cortical Deafness,Deafness, Cortical
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D001299	Audiometry	The testing of the acuity of the sense of hearing to determine the thresholds of the lowest intensity levels at which an individual can hear a set of tones. The frequencies between 125 and 8000 Hz are used to test air conduction thresholds and the frequencies between 250 and 4000 Hz are used to test bone conduction thresholds.	Audiometries