Surgical experience of nine cases with intratemporal facial hemangiomas and a brief literature review

Conclusions: It was practicable to remove hemangiomas at the labyrinth region and distal internal auditory canal with complete or serviceable hearing preservation by the transmastoid approach. The majority of cases where the nerve integrity was preserved achieved acceptable recovery of facial nerve function during the first few years according to our study. Long-term outcomes of nerve graft were acceptable, while short-term outcomes were unsatisfactory based on the literature. Objective: This study aimed to present our surgical experience of nine intratemporal facial nerve hemangiomas and provide a brief literature review. Methods: Clinical data for the cases were retrospectively analyzed. They were followed up for 5-59 months and related literature was reviewed. Results: All of the hemangiomas were removed by the transmastoid approach, and only three cases developed mild conductive hearing loss. Nerve integrity was preserved for all cases. In all, 66.7% of patients maintained or recovered to grade III or better, and one patient with grade VI recovered to grade V during the average follow-up period of 2 years. In the literature the majority of grafted patients recovered to an acceptable level 5 years later, although recovery was usually poor during the first year.