1999 Volume 39 Issue 11 Pages 756-751
A 56-year-old male with a history of lung cancer presented with isolated metastases of adenocarcinoma in the bilateral internal auditory meatuses (IAMs), mimicking the bilateral acoustic schwannomas of neurofibromatosis type 2, and manifesting as rapidly worsening tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss. Magnetic resonance imaging showed small tumors in both IAMs with no sign of leptomeningeal metastasis. The preoperative diagnosis was neurofibromatosis type 2. Both tumors were removed and the histological diagnoses were adenocarcinoma. Neuroimaging differentiation of a solitary metastatic IAM tumor from a benign tumor is difficult, although rapidly progressive eighth cranial nerve dysfunction suggests a malignant process. Metastases should be considered as a rare diagnostic possibility in a patient with small tumors in both IAMs.
