Of all lesions in the CPA, acoustic neuromas account for 70-90 percent. Medical management consists of periodic monitoring of the patient's neurological status, use of hearing aids when appropriate, and periodic imaging studies. There is no medication known to have a substantial effect on the growth of acoustic neuroma tumors. This procedure has its own risks. Even when the tumor is not growing on MRI, there is a risk of losing useful hearing in this situation, making the individual no longer a candidate for hearing preservation type surgery.
Some variants grow much faster than others.
This is a method of irradiating the tumor, invented by Lars Leksell in 1971. Although it avoids surgery with its attendant risks, this option is usually recommended only for high-risk surgical cases because of the possibilities of late radiation complications, hydrocephalus in about 10 percent of patients, and the need for ongoing MRI monitoring of the results of the procedure. However, as the operators of gamma knife become more proficient, these statistics are likely to improve substantially. As of 1996, approximately 25 percent of all acoustic neuromas were treated in this way. In most instances the reason was that patients refused surgery.