The Size of the Tumor in Acoustic Neuroma: Proposal for a Reporting System

摘要

Determining the size of the tumor in acoustic neuroma is essential because the size influences preoperative assessment, patient outcome, amount of tumor removal, and follow-up of residual tumor, after radiotherapy, and scan-and-see policy. Until a reliable method to determine the volume of the tumor is established and widely used, we should adopt a simple one that allows comparison of different series. A proposal of such a method is described. The intracanalicular (IC) and extracanalicular (EC) parts of the tumor should be measured separately and the largest dimension of each reported. A parallel classification is added that includes several characteristics of the tumor that are not defined by a number. The suggested method is a simple one that could be applied to previous series, and easily adopted for future ones, until an accurate volume tracing method exists and is widely used.