Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that causes (typically) benign tumors to form on nerve tissue anywhere in the body.
Neurofibromatosis affects each person differently depending on where the tumors grow and compress nerves, blood vessels, organs, and other body tissue. NF can range from extremely severe causing heart, hearing, and vision problems to relatively mild and hardly noticeable.
Treatment for NF is often focused on tumor management. In some cases, surgery or chemotherapy is used to remove or shrink tumors that are causing health problems.
NF has been classified into three distinct types: NF1, NF2 and Schwannomata's.
NF2 is closely linked to hearing loss and in some cases, vision loss. In NF2, benign tumors grow on the eighth nerve that carries sound and balance information to the brain. This can cause progressive hearing loss, balance problems and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Tumors can also grow on the optic nerve causing vision loss. Hearing and vision in people with neurofibromatosis can fluctuate based on management of the affecting tumors.