What is an auditory neuroma? An auditory neuroma is a brain tumor, but is not actually located in the brain parenchyma, but grows on the vestibular branch of the auditory nerve. Auditory neuromas are benign tumors (not malignant nor cancerous) and usually grow slowly, with an average annual growth rate of 2 mm. Auditory nerve sheath tumors account for 7%-12% of intracranial tumors, 93.1% of intracranial nerve sheath tumors, and 75%-80% of pontocerebellar horn tumors. Clinical manifestations of auditory neuroma The age of onset of auditory neuroma is mostly between 30 and 60 years old, and those under 20 years old are rare. There are slightly more women than men. Most of them are unilateral, and most of the bilateral ones are neurofibromatosis. Most of the tumors occur in the vestibular nerve and a few in the cochlear nerve. There is a tendency to develop cystic and fatty or yellow tumor-like changes. Hearing loss, tinnitus and balance dysfunction on one side are the most common symptoms of the disease and are the basis for the diagnosis of auditory neuroma. Difficulties in the treatment of auditory neuroma The main difficulties in the treatment of auditory neuroma requiring surgical resection mainly lie in the total resection of the tumor, preservation of facial nerve function and hearing preservation. For patients with small auditory neuroma without neurological symptoms, advanced age or poor general condition, they can be observed without treatment. The observation and follow-up mainly rely on imaging, through regular MRI examinations, if progressive growth of tumor is observed before deciding to adopt surgery or radiation therapy. It is generally believed that tumors with an average annual growth rate of ≤0.36mm do not need to receive treatment, while those with an annual growth rate of ≥3mm need to receive treatment as soon as possible. 2.Microscopic surgery: With the development of microsurgery and its increasingly mature technology, we believe that microsurgery is the best choice for the treatment of auditory neuroma, which is also the recommendation of many domestic and foreign medical experts and the US National Academy of Medicine. The use of an operating microscope and modern microsurgical instruments is superior to radiation therapy in both protecting the facial nerve (preventing facial palsy, or facial nerve paralysis) and preserving hearing. Surgical treatment can completely remove the tumor, while radiation therapy only delays the growth of the auditory neuroma and does not completely cure the tumor. Our neurosurgery department used a new technique, intraoperative facial nerve function monitoring, to perform microsurgical resection of auditory neuroma, which preserved the facial nerve intact and normalized the facial nerve function after surgery. It avoids complications such as postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leakage, cerebral nerve injury, hydrocephalus or hydrocephalus, intracranial hemorrhage, meningitis and postoperative pain. 3.Endoscopic surgical treatment: The posterior cranial fossa surgery, especially the auditory neuroma surgery, is characterized by deep path and small operative field, and exposure and proximity to the operative area is the key to surgery. These features are extremely suitable for endoscopic surgery, which can also make up for the shortage of microscope, help the operator to see the dead space under the microscope and provide additional information, which is important for clarifying whether there is tumor residue in the inner ear canal, reducing the nerve injury caused by improper operation, protecting the surrounding It is important for clarifying the tumor residue in the inner ear canal, reducing the nerve damage caused by improper operation, protecting the surrounding blood vessels and nerves, reducing the occurrence of postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leakage and improving the postoperative hearing retention rate.