The human brain has a complex structure. The cerebellopontine angle is located at the junction of three areas: the pons, the medulla oblongata, and the cerebellum. Often it is here that tumor growths appear, which have a negative effect on blood vessels, the movement of cerebrospinal fluid and nerve endings. This is due to the compression of these elements. As a result, the bloodstream does not supply enough oxygen to the brain. The cerebrospinal fluid does not have the opportunity to leave, accumulates, aggravating the situation.
Disorders of the cerebellopontine angle
The defeat of a part of the brain occurs under the influence of neoplasms. A tumor of the cerebellopontine angle is not one of them that occupies a certain position. In this case, damage occurs in any structure located at the site of manifestation of the pathology. The disease is classified into types that are subject to various therapeutic measures.
Types of tumorscerebellopontine angle
Medical statistics mark an important fact. It consists in the fact that ten percent of a hundred formations in the brain are located in a place called the cerebellar pontine angle.
Tumor types associated with site involvement:
- vestibulocochlear neuroma;
- meningioma;
- cholesteatoma.
The first disease accounts for 95 percent of all formations of the cerebellopontine angle. The detected tumor is benign and does not become a source of damage to other organs. Patients of working age are at risk. Often neurinoma is found in women. Today, doctors prefer to remove the tumor by surgery, while performing unilateral or bilateral removal.
Often doctors diagnose "cerebellar pontine angle syndrome". It should be noted that it is a consequence of another disease called neuroma.
Symptoms
It is not always possible to detect a tumor in the brain in time, because there are not enough good reasons for a full examination. The clinical picture is weak, there are no sharp jumps associated with a deterioration in well-being. The patient does not pay attention to the noise in the ear for a long time. This phenomenon is called cochleovestibular syndrome.
Gradually, the symptoms of the disease become more intense. As a rule, it is manifested by the appearance of deafness, the facial nerve is immobilized. Only after this isa full examination, and the patient is immediately sent to the operating table to remove the tumor.
It is noted that this stage becomes the first bell about a developing disease that requires attention.
Clinical picture of signs of the disease
The manifestations of pathology are as follows:
- Pain in the head.
- The reflex responsible for closing the upper and lower eyelids is disrupted if you try to touch the cornea or conjunctiva with a tissue. This means that the patient needs a complete and in-depth examination.
- Phenomena present in the cerebellum. They also have several varieties, including general cerebellar ataxia, unilateral hemiataxia. The patient has disturbances in gait, the tone of the muscular apparatus decreases. There are complaints of dizziness.
- Arms and legs fail, paralysis sets in.
When a patient is diagnosed with a lesion of the cerebellopontine angle, the following signs of the disease are added to the indicated symptoms:
- With a neuroma, disturbances will be felt in only one ear.
- A defeat in the auditory area in the first periods of the disease is manifested by noise or whistling in the inner ear.
- Gradually the state of the organ becomes worse, deafness sets in. The only sound the patient can still hear is high tones.
The position of a neuroma in the brain indicates a future source of negative influence. This means that with damage to the right side of the cerebellopontine angleorgans located, respectively, similarly to the left hemisphere will suffer.
Additional symptoms
Also, the disease can manifest itself as follows:
- In the back of the head, patients feel pain, localized where the tumor is located.
- The facial nerve is not sensitive to external stimuli.
- When the auditory canal is damaged, the patient develops profuse salivation. The patient does not smell, and the sense of smell also disappears.
The increase in the neoplasm leads to the fact that the nerves of the cerebellopontine angle are pinched and then additional clinical signs develop:
- voice becomes quieter or disappears;
- when talking, the timbre may change;
- Swallowing function is impaired.
When the tumor compresses the cerebellum, the following symptoms appear:
- arms and legs are weak and move with difficulty;
- gives the impression that the patient is in slow motion, the way he moves;
- the tips of the hands begin to tremble;
- when trying to get something, the patient misses;
- eyeballs move spontaneously.
Diagnostics
Examination helps to identify the source of the ailment and prescribe adequate treatment. Also, the diagnosis is designed to exclude other diseases with similar symptoms, as in a lesion of the cerebellar angle.
Diagnosis occurs using medical equipment:
- computed tomography;
- x-ray;
- magnetic resonance imaging;
- angiography.
Treatment
The success of therapeutic measures depends on the period of detection of the disease. Accordingly, the earlier a lesion of the cerebellopontine angle was detected, the greater the chances of restoring the patient's normal state of he alth and the performance of the damaged organs.
Today there are two types of treatment:
- Conservative. It is used if the tumor growth has a low growth rate.
- Surgical. Surgery is used if the formation is rapidly increasing in size. Additional means are chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
In this case, surgery is used as a last resort, when other methods have failed. This is due to the fact that in the place of the cerebellopontine angle there are many important areas, the damage of which will lead to the patient's disability or death.
