History of the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acoustic Neuroma

THE DEVELOPMENT of acoustic neuroma diagnosis and surgery is one of the most fascinating sagas of medical history. This story will be traced from the first recorded postmortem description of these tumors until the present time. Development and diagnostic tests, general supportive care, and surgical techniques are to be emphasized from time to time. It will be shown how this story has been influenced throughout the years by such men as Cushing, Dandy, and later, William House. Early Postmortem Findings Nowhere in the annals of medicine has the postmortem examination played such an important part in the early recognition of this benign, yet fatal, lesion. It is here that I have chosen to begin our journey through the pages of acoustic neuroma history. The first postmortem description of such a tumor occurred almost 200 years ago. It was Sandifort¹of Leyden, Germany, who described what was probably an early acoustic