USC Acoustic Neuroma Center

Our experts offer comprehensive care, including cochlear and brainstem implants, to help you hear better.

USC Acoustic Neuroma Center

Our experts offer comprehensive care, including cochlear and brainstem implants, to help you hear better.

Deep Expertise for Better Outcomes

At the USC Acoustic Neuroma Center, we offer world-class expertise with patient-focused care to help acoustic neuroma patients return to the life they love. Acoustic neuromas, also called vestibular schwannomas, are rare tumors that grow on the principal nerve leading from the inner ear to the brain. These tumors are usually benign, or noncancerous, but a diagnosis can still be concerning.

Our internationally renowned physicians and surgeons are leaders in acoustic neuroma treatment. With extensive experience and cutting-edge technology, we treat a high volume of patients from all over the country. Our depth of expertise results in better outcomes for you, including shorter hospital stays, lower readmission rates and improved long-term quality of life. We offer a full range of treatment options, from “watching and waiting” to microsurgery and noninvasive radiosurgery. Our doctors work together to design a treatment plan that works best for you.

Who Is at Risk for an Acoustic Neuroma?

Treatments We Offer

  • Acoustic neuroma surgery
    • Middle fossa craniotomy: Incision behind the ear
    • Retrosigmoid craniotomy: Incision above the ear
    • Translabyrinthine craniotomy: Incision above the ear, where some ear bone is removed. Usually only used for large acoustic neuromas.
  • Balance therapy
  • Chemotherapy
  • Comprehensive vestibular therapy
  • Physical therapy
  • Radiation therapy
  • Vestibular therapy

Conditions

Patient Education

Our Specialists

View our team

Why Choose Us for Acoustic Neuroma Care

Comprehensive care: Our care team includes specialists across otology, neurotology, neurosurgery, radiology, vestibular physiology and more — who work together to deliver the highest standard of care.

Seamless treatment: Our patient navigator ensures seamless coordination, fostering trust and providing personalized support throughout the treatment journey.

Hearing restoration: For patients experiencing hearing loss, we offer advanced options for hearing enhancement or preservation, including cochlear implants and, in selected cases, brainstem implants. Patients can get complete care from a team specializing in hearing restoration, with personalized guidance and training to help them hear in a new way.

Continually advancing treatment and research: As an academic medical center and member organization of the Acoustic Neuroma Association, we are helping work to continually improve the lives of acoustic neuroma patients and their families.

Charles Liu, MD, PhD, a Keck Medicine neurosurgeon, shows a female patient a model of a brain and skull

Neurosurgery

Our dedicated neurosurgeons use minimally invasive methods whenever possible to treat a wide range of neurological conditions.

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USC Brain Tumor Center

Our experts deliver comprehensive, advanced care to people living with brain tumors and related conditions.

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Woman and younger woman looking at flowers

Hearing and Balance Care

Our specialists give you expert treatment for hearing loss and dizziness — and we customize our treatment just for you.

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Beyond Clinical Care

Neurosurgery Residency

The Neurosurgery Residency Program at the Keck School of Medicine of USC is a seven-year program.

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Clinical Trials

Participating in a clinical trial gives you access to new and promising therapies.

Find an open trial

Neurotology Fellowship

The USC Caruso Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Neurotology Fellowship program is a two-year ACGME-accredited educational program.

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Donate

Support our efforts to advance and innovate acoustic neuroma care.

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Meet the Staff: Jennifer Kelley, Patient Navigator

Patient Story

The most amazing part of my job is to watch a patient’s face when I mention that I was a patient, too!

Read Jennifer’s story

Meet the Staff: Jennifer Kelley, Patient Navigator

Patient Story

The most amazing part of my job is to watch a patient’s face when I mention that I was a patient, too!

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