any information on trigeminal neuroma

[andrea27448]

hello!  my daughter had been diagnosed with a trigeminal neuroma we are waiting to go to sheffield hospital,i am unable to find out much information on this,her symptoms ar she cant see with the rite eye .

[Neuro Forum]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine your daughter and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the best course of action would be for her. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.

Trigeminal neuroma is sort of an uncommonly used term; I am going to assume that by trigeminal neuroma you mean a growth, a benign tumor, around the trigeminal nerve. The more commonly used medical term to describe this is trigeminal schwanomma; please ask your daughter's doctor if this is what she has, if not, the discussion below may not apply to your daughter's case.

A schwannomas is a benign tumor that arises from schwann cells, which are basically cells that form the coating around the peripheral nerves in our body. The trigeminal nerve is the nerve that provides sensation to much of the face, including the eye, in addition to other functions. A trigeminal schwanomma is basically a tumor that arises from the cells that coat the trigeminal nerve.The schwanommas can arise around any peripheral nerve, but often the facial nerve or trigeminal nerve are involved. These tumors are not uncommon. They may occur anywhere along the course of the nerve but often occur intra-cranially, within the skull, around the brain. The symptoms they cause depend on their location and their size. If they are present near a part of the brain called the brain stem, they can press on the brainstem leading to symptoms in that manner. With trigeminal schwanomma, there may be no symptoms, or symptoms may include face pain, some weakness of the muscles used for chewing, or sensory loss on the face (lack of sensation on the face).

Schwanommas are best diagnosed with MRI of the brain.

These tumors are not malignant, they are not cancerous. however, if they are large and/or pressing on nearby structures or causing significant symptoms, they must be treated.

Treatment includes either radiation, surgery or watchful waiting. Treatment may include a specific form of directed radiation called gamma knife radiosurgery. This is a misleading term; this is NOT a type of surgery, it is just the use of radiation in a very focused beam so as to prevent damage of normal structures by radiation. Another treatment option is surgery to remove the mass. Tumors larger than 3 cm may not be amenable to radiation, and in such cases, microsurgical resection is the best option. In some cases, if the schwanomma is not causing symptoms or pressing on surrounding structures, watchful waiting with repeated MRI of the brain every few months may be all that is necessary.

I recommend your daughter follows up with her neurologist and/or neurosurgeon.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.

[JoeKranz]

Thank you for the wealth of information. I too have what my doctor called a trigeminal neuroma which was found during an MRI for a cholesteatoma in my right ear. Now that the cholesteatoma surgeries are over, I will be treated for the neuroma this summer, resulting in surgery toward the end of the summer. Thank you for the information you provided as it has sparked up some questions for me to ask my doctor.