MAYWOOD, IL – In one of the nation’s longest and most successful surgical partnerships, Loyola Medicine otologic surgeon John Leonetti, MD, and neurosurgeon Douglas Anderson, MD, have worked together to remove 1,500 acoustic neuromas during the past three decades.

An acoustic neuroma, also known as a vestibular schwannoma, is rare, occurring in about one in 100,000 people per year. It is located in the inner ear and grows inward toward the brain. It’s slow-growing and usually benign. The tumor can cause hearing loss and ringing in the ear in one ear and numbness on one side of the face. If the tumor grows large enough, it can be fatal.

Loyola Medicine's Center for Cranial Base Surgery is one of the nation's leading centers in treating acoustic neuromas. The center sees three to four new patients per week and Drs. Anderson and Leonetti jointly perform about 70 acoustic neuroma operations per year.

Removing an acoustic neuroma requires careful planning and delicate surgery. Dr. Leonetti gains access to the tumor and identifies the nerves that must be saved. He then removes the portion of the tumor that lies within the inner ear cylinder. Dr. Anderson removes the portion of the tumor that lies next to the brain.

Before the 1960s, acoustic neuromas were fatal in about half of all patients. Improved technology and techniques, including MRIs and microsurgery, have greatly reduced mortality. The challenge now is to preserve functions of the facial nerve (which controls facial expression), cochlear nerve (hearing) and vestibular nerve (hearing and balance). These nerves are contained in a confined space, called the internal auditory canal, where the tumors arise. Surgeons must remove as much of the tumor as possible, without damaging the nerves.

In addition to Drs. Leonetti and Anderson, Loyola's clinically integrated team includes highly trained audiologists who attend the surgeries. Electrodes placed directly on the nerves provide real time feedback to audiologists who monitor nerve function during the surgery.

"This gives us, the surgeons, the best chance and a unique opportunity to save hearing in more patients," Dr. Leonetti said.

About Loyola Medicine

Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial HospitalMacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke centertransplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.   

For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).

About Trinity Health

Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).