Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T06:22:21.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

An unusual cause of acute labyrinthine failure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

J. S. Mehta
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
M. M. Sharr*
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Mr M. Sharr, Department of Neurosurgery, King's College Hospital, London 5E5 9RS. Fax: 0171 346 3820

Abstract

We report a case of a 40-year-old man presenting with acute vertigo and deafness. Computed tomography (CT) scanning at initial presentation was normal. However, one year later he developed numbness on the right side of his face and examination revealed fifth, seventh and eighth cranial nerve palsies as well as cerebellar dysfunction. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a cerebellopontine angle lesion. He underwent near total excision followed by neuro-axis irradiation. The main mass of the tumour projected into the cerebellopontine angle. Histology showed this to be a medulloblastoma. All features of this case are unusual; hence we discuss the pathogenesis and management of this very rare tumour.

Type
Oncology in Focus
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bailey, P., Cushing, H. (1925) Medulloblastoma cerebelli: a common type of midcerebellar glioma of childhood. Archives Neurology Psychiatry 14: 192224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, R. L., Becker, A. D., Sobel, D. F. (1995) Adult medulloblastoma: review of 13 cases with emphasis on MRI. Neuroradiology 37: 104108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belza, M., Donaldson, S., Steinberg, G., Cox, R., Cogen, P. (1991) Medulloblastoma: freedom from relapse longer than eight years a therapeutic cure? Journal of Neurosurgery 75: 575582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bloom, H. J., Bessel, E. M. (1990) Medulloblastoma in adults: a review of 34 patients treated for medulloblastoma between 1852 and 1981. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 18: 763772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frost, P. J., Laperriere, N. J., Shun Wong, C., Milosevic, M. F., Simpson, W. J., Pintilie, M. (1995) Medulloblastoma in adults. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 32(4): 951957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gálvez, E., Meseguer, D., Ortega, F., Mondejar, J. (1994) Sudden deafness and cerebellar tumour. Journal of Laryngology and Otology 108: 584586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giangaspero, F., Chieco, P., Ceccarelli, C., Lisignoli, G., Pozzuoli, R., Gambacorta, M., Rossi, G., Burger, P. C. (1991) ‘Desmoplastic’ versus ‘classic’ medulloblastomas: Comparison of DNA content, histopathology and differentiation. Virchows Archiv. - A, Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology 418(3): 207214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grand, W. (1971) Positional nystagmus: an early sign in medulloblastoma. Neurology 21: 11571159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giordana, M. T., Cavalla, P., Chiò, A., Marino, S., Soffietti, R., Vigliani, M. C., Schiffer, D. (1995) Prognostic factors in adult medulloblastoma. A clinico-pathologic study. Tumori 81: 338346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartsell, W. F., Montag, A. G., Lydon, J., Galinsky, D. L., Sarin, P. (1992) Treatment of medulloblastoma in adults. American Journal of Clinical Oncology 15(3): 207211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hubbard, J. L., Schithauer, B. W., Kispert, D. B., Carpenter, S. M., Wick, M. R., Laws, E. R. (1989) Adult cerebellar medulloblastomas: The pathological, radiographic and clinical disease spectrum. Journal of Neurosurgery 70: 536544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iaconetta, G., Lamaida, E., Rossi, A., Bernado, A., De Caro, M. L. (1994) Cerebellar medulloblastoma in adults: report of 15 cases and review of the literature. Acta Neurologica 16(12): 3845.Google ScholarPubMed
Ildan, F., Cetinalp, E., Bagdatoglu, H., Boyar, B., Haciyakupoglu, S., Karadayi, A. (1994) Cerebellar medulloblastomas in adults. Neurosurgical Review 17(3): 205209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koci, T. M., Chiang, F., Mehringer, M., Yuh, W. T., Mayr, N. A., Itabashi, H., Pribram, H. F. (1993) Adult cerebellar medulloblastoma: imaging features with emphasis on MR findings. American Journal of Neuroradiology 14: 929939.Google ScholarPubMed
Leo, E., Schlegel, P. G., Lindemann, A. (1997) Chemotherapeutic induction of long-term remission in metastatic medulloblastoma. Journal of Neuro-Oncology 32(2): 149154.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muller, W., Afra, D., Schroeder, R., Slowik, F., Wilcke, O., Klug, N. (1982) Medulloblastoma: survey of factors possibly influencing the prognosis. Acta Neurochirurgica 64: 215224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, C. E., Long, D. M., Jones, T. K., Levitt, S. H. (1973) Experiences in treating medulloblastoma at the University of Minnesota hospitals. Radiology 109: 179182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yamada, S., Aiba, T., Hara, M. (1993) Cerebellopontine angle medulloblastoma: case report and literature review. British Journal of Neurosurgery 7: 9194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zee, C. S., Segall, H. D., Miller, C., Ahmadi, I., McComb, J. G., Han, J. S., Park, S. H. (1982) Less common CT features of medulloblastoma. Radiology 144: 97102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed