Vestibular Schwannoma: Is There a Difference in Balance Between Patients Treated with Microsurgery and Clinical Monitoring?
Vestibular Schwannoma; balance; posturography; video head impulse test; DHI; microsurgery; clinical treatment.
Introduction: Vestibular Schwannomas are benign tumors that affect balance, and although well-established treatment modalities exist, their implications on balance outcomes still need to be fully elucidated.
Objective: To assess the balance in patients undergoing surgical treatment and clinical treatment, and to examine the relationship between the results obtained in the following tests: v-HIT, Posturography, and DHI.
Methods: A retrospective case-control analysis was conducted with 28 patients, divided into two groups - microsurgery and clinical treatment through the v-HIT, Posturography, and DHI tests.
Results: The findings suggest that patients with larger tumors required surgical intervention possibly due to symptoms or clinical protocols. However, Posturography, which measures balance and postural
stability, did not reveal significant differences between the surgical and non-surgical groups. Moreover, the DHI, which assesses the impact on the quality of life, showed no significant variance between the groups. This suggests that patients might adapt to their vestibular deficits over time.
Conclusion: The analyzed parameters, such as tumor size, DHI, Posturography, and v-HIT, did not show clear significant correlations. This suggests that symptoms and physical effects of tumors on balance are likely multifactorial in origin. Age does not seem to be a determining factor in relation to posturographic parameters or DHI outcomes.