Abstract

The relevance of defining the growth of vestibular schwannoma (VS) is that any significant VS growth may impact treatment strategy. A conservative treatment strategy is often proposed as a primary treatment option in the management of VS. Several authors have demonstrated that a significant proportion of VSs do not grow, and those that do, usually grow slowly. Surgical and/or radiosurgical treatment options may be offered to the patient according to the VS growth. Therefore, defining the VS growth is a determinant in managing treatment strategies. A comprehensive literature search was performed to examine the definition of tumor growth for VS. The literature review was conducted using PubMed and Embase databases dated back to 20 years (1995–2015) and was updated until February 2015. VS growth should be measured on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images. Although there the overall quality of the present studies is low, all highlight a significant VS growth of >2 mm, and/or 1.2 cm3, and/or 20% change in volume, and/or the square of the product of the 2 orthogonal diameters. We suggest that VS growth should instead change management strategies when a 3-mm increase in diameter on two consecutive MRI scans are performed 1 year apart.

Cite this article as: Kania R, Verillaud B, Camous D, Hautefort C, Somers T, Waterval JJ, et al. EAONO position statement on Vestibular Schwannoma:Imaging Assessment Question: How should growth of Vestibular Schwannoma be defined? J Int Adv Otol 2018; 14(1): xx.