Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41615555›Full record

ArticleJournal of neuro-oncology2026

Pre-operative blood-based inflammatory indices and long-term facial nerve outcomes following vestibular schwannoma resection.

James Feghali, Sai Chandan Reddy, A Karim Ahmed, S Farzad Maroufi, Omar Selim, Melissa Canales, Shaan Bhandarkar, Patrick Kramer, Francis Creighton, Michael Lim and 7 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neuro-oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

James Feghali *Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Sai Chandan Reddy *Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
A Karim AhmedDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
S Farzad MaroufiDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Omar SelimDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Melissa CanalesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Shaan BhandarkarDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Patrick KramerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Francis CreightonDepartment of Otolaryngology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Michael LimDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Risheng XuDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Justin M CaplanDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Chetan BettegowdaDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Jon WeingartDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Henry BremDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Rafael J TamargoDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Christopher M JacksonDepartment of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street Phipps 102, Baltimore, MD, USA. cjacks53@jhmi.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveInflammation contributes to tumor pathogenesis and growth in vestibular schwannoma (VS) patients, but associations with facial nerve outcome following surgical resection remain unclear. We aimed to evaluate whether blood-based inflammatory indices are associated with postoperative facial nerve outcomes following VS resection. PATIENTS AND

methodsThis retrospective cohort study included adult VS patients who consecutively underwent microsurgical resection at our institution between July 2016 and July 2024. Patients with neurofibromatosis, previous radiotherapy or resection, baseline facial weakness, and inadequate followup were excluded. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and other inflammatory indices were calculated at several timepoints. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate associations with poor facial nerve outcome (House-Brackmann grade > 2) at last followup and with recovery of facial nerve function.

resultsAmong 396 patients, favorable facial nerve outcome (HB ≤ 2) was achieved in 315(80%) patients. A higher preoperative NLR was independently associated with poor long-term facial nerve outcome while adjusting for tumor size (OR = 1.10 [1.01–1.20], p = 0.028). A total of 162 patients developed facial nerve weakness (HB > 2) postoperatively, among which 81(50%) achieved recovery. A higher preoperative NLR was independently associated with non-recovery (OR = 0.82 [0.67–0.99], p = 0.035). Optimal discriminating cutpoints of preoperative NLR for facial nerve outcome and recovery were 1.62 and 2.02, respectively.

conclusionPreoperative NLR may represent a biomarker for long-term facial nerve outcome following microsurgical resection of VS. This may be related to greater tumor adherence and a more vigorous inflammatory response to iatrogenic facial nerve injury. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable. This study does not constitute a clinical trial.

Indexed as

Facial NerveFacial Nerve DiseasesInflammationLymphocytesNeuroma, AcousticNeurosurgical ProceduresNeutrophilsAdultAgedFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMicrosurgeryMiddle AgedPostoperative ComplicationsAcoustic neuromaFacial nerveInflammation

Identifiers

PMID41615555

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.