WHAT IS IT: SCHWANNOMA

I have personal experience of this in my family. A schwannoma is a tumour of the tissue that covers nerves, called the nerve sheath. These tumours develop from a type of cell called a Schwann cell, which gives them their name.

Schwannomas are often benign. The most common type of this tumour is a vestibular schwannoma. It affects the nerve responsible for balance (also called the vestibular nerve).

It can cause inner ear deafness because the hearing and balance nerve run together, and as the tumour grows it damages the hearing nerve (cochlear nerve). doctors used to call them acoustic neuromas because of this.