Management of vestibular schwannomas (VS) is challenging due to their anatomical location and uncertainty in their individual rate of growth. Many tumours are managed with imaging surveillance, whilst treatments include surgical resection and stereotactic radiosurgery. Due to the associated risks of treatment, long-term outcomes of different management approaches are important to inform patient decision-making.

In 2006, two national surveys demonstrated large variations in access to different treatment modalities across the UK. On this background, the British Skull Base Society decided to establish a registry of vestibular schwannoma to auditing national practice and support research into VS epidemiology and management.

The VS registry was established in 2012. Two national audit reports were published in 2014 and 2016 before reporting transitioned to individual unit-level benchmarked reports on a 3-year rolling basis. Current research themes of the registry include determining accurate estimates of VS epidemiology, understanding factors affecting tumour growth rate, and investigating management practices across time and geography.