Preservation of hearing in vestibular schwannomas treated by radiosurgery using Leksell Gamma Knife: preliminary report of a prospective Belgian clinical study.

Abstract

In view of the high tumor control rate and excellent long-term cranial nerve preservation rates, LGK radiosurgery should now be considered as an excellent alternative strategy to microsurgery for the management of VS grade I to III as well as in cases of residual tumor after microsurgery. Compared to results obtained in centers with long-term experience, our data suggest that LGK radiosurgery is an efficient reproducible therapeutic approach that offers high rate of hearing preservation. This justifies the choice of radiosurgery as the first treatment option in VS.