Long‐Term Hearing Outcome For Vestibular Schwannomas After Microsurgery And Radiotherapy: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

OBJECTIVE: Hearing loss is a common symptom associated with vestibular schwannoma (VS), either because of the tumor's effects on the cochlear nerve or due to active treatments such as surgery or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Treatment decisions for VS are based on factors including tumor size, hearing status, patient symptoms, and institutional preference. The study aimed to investigate long-term auditory outcomes in VS patients undergoing active treatments with a hearing preservation intent. DATA SOURCES: A systematic literature review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, searching Scopus, Pubmed, and Web of Science databases from inception to January 2024. REVIEW METHODS: Studies meeting inclusion criteria, including a minimum 5-year follow-up and assessment of pre- and posttreatment hearing outcomes, were included. Pooled prevalence estimates for serviceable hearing after SRS and microsurgery were calculated using MetaXL software. Risk of bias assessment was performed with the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions tool. RESULTS: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria, with 356 patients included for analysis. The pooled prevalence of maintaining serviceable hearing after SRS at 10 years was 18.1% (95% confidence interval CI: 1.7%-43.3%), with wide prediction intervals indicating variability in outcomes. Microsurgery demonstrated a higher prevalence of maintaining long-term serviceable hearing, with a pooled estimate of 74.5% (95% CI: 63.5%-84.1%). CONCLUSION: This systematic review underscores the importance of long-term follow-up in evaluating auditory outcomes in VS treatment. Despite the biases inherent to pretreatment patients selection, hearing preservation microsurgery for sporadic VS removal demonstrated favorable and stable long-term serviceable hearing.