De novo cavernous malformation arising in the wall of vestibular schwannoma following stereotactic radiosurgery: case report and review of the literature

We report a novel case of a radiation-induced cavernous malformation developing in a vestibular schwannoma previously treated with stereotactic radiosurgery. Eleven years after treatment, the patient presented with a large predominantly cystic lesion in the cerebellopontine angle. We performed surgery, and a solid vascular lesion was identified within the schwannoma, which was determined to be a cavernous malformation after histopathological analysis. We review the literature of radiation-induced cavernous lesions, illustrating that while rare, these lesions do pose concern as a long-term complication of brain radiation therapy. We also discuss the possibility that radiation-induced cavernous malformation-like lesions are pathologically distinct from cavernous malformations.