Vestibular schwannoma Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS) achieves high tumor control rates but is occasionally associated with the new onset of acute vestibular dysfunction. The potential association of vestibulopathy and radiation delivery to the semicircular canals (SCCs) during GKRS has not been explored.
Radiation oncologists and neurosurgeons performing Gamma Knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma should consider semicircular canal dose as a potentially modifiable risk factor for post-treatment vestibulopathy, pending broader validation of dose thresholds.
If semicircular canal radiation dose is confirmed as a risk factor for new vestibulopathy, dose-sparing planning strategies could reduce a significant quality-of-life burden in radiosurgery patients.
- 01Study investigates semicircular canal radiation dose as a risk factor for new vestibulopathy after Gamma Knife radiosurgery.
- 02Focuses on patients with vestibular schwannoma — a benign tumor of the balance/hearing nerve.
- 03New-onset vestibulopathy (balance system dysfunction) is an under-studied radiosurgery complication.
- 04Findings could inform dose-planning constraints to protect the semicircular canals.
- 05Study design details (sample size, follow-up) not specified in available abstract.
Semicircular canal radiation dose during Gamma Knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma increases risk of new-onset vestibulopathy.
studyunclear- PMID
- 42295450
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11060-026-05675-4.
- Journal
- Journal of Neuro-Oncology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Patients undergoing Gamma Knife radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma
- Intervention
- Gamma Knife radiosurgery with varying semicircular canal radiation dose
- Comparator
- Patients receiving lower semicircular canal radiation doses
Primary outcomes
Incidence of new-onset vestibulopathy following Gamma Knife radiosurgery; Relationship between semicircular canal radiation dose and vestibular outcomes