Teflon granuloma presenting as an enlarging, gadolinium enhancing, posterior fossa mass with progressive hearing loss following microvascular decompression.

Abstract

Deleterious effects of Teflon strand placement during microvascular decompression (MVD) for hemifacial spasm are rare. In this report, a patient who had previously undergone suboccipital MVD for hemifacial spasm presented 3 years postoperatively with a progressive asymmetric sensorineural hearing loss and magnetic resonance imaging evidence of an enlarging ipsilateral gadolinium enhancing 1-cm cerebellopontine angle lesion. At surgery a granuloma was found displacing the structures of the internal auditory canal. Histologically, evidence of a Teflon fiber-induced giant cell granuloma was identified. This paper reviews the literature of Teflon-induced histopathology as it relates to posterior fossa MVD surgery, as well as its relation to this previously unreported complication.