The translabyrinthine approach was developed by
William F. House, M.D., who began doing dissections in the laboratory with the aid of magnification and subsequently developed the first
middle cranial fossa and then the translabyrinthine approach for the removal of acoustic neuroma. This surgical approach is typically performed by a team of surgeons, including a
neurotologist (an ear, nose, and throat surgeon specializing in skull base surgery) as well as a
neurosurgeon. In this approach, the
semicircular canals and
vestibule, including the
utricle and the
saccule of the
inner ear are removed with a surgical drill, causing complete sensorineural hearing loss in the operated ear. The facial nerve, which innervates the muscles of the face, is preserved in a higher percentage of cases than with other approaches. Prior to the translabyrinthine approach, in the early 1960s acoustic neuromas were treated utilizing a suboccipital approach without the aid of an operating microscope. With the introduction of the translabyrinthine approach, mortality rates decreased from 40% in the State of California to 1%. ==References==