ABSTRACT

Acoustic nerve tumours take the form of benign swellings arising on the nerve sheath of the eighth cranial nerve (auditory or acoustic nerve-the nerve of hearing and balance). The proper term for such tumours is ‘Schwannoma’ or ‘neurilemmoma’, denoting their origin from the nerve sheath, but they are commonly referred to as acoustic neuromas. A special variety of benign tumour affecting the acoustic nerve is the acoustic neurofibroma, which occurs on both sides as part of a familial condition.