Abstract:

Purpose:Meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors. They are graded into three pathologic grades. Surgical gross total resection is the definitive treatment of meningiomas, but follow-up or stereotactic radiosurgery is sometimes advised for asymptomatic, incidentally diagnosed meningiomas. For a decision making, pre-operative prediction of Grade II and III meningiomas which are more aggressive clinically, is important. We have reviewed our intracranial meningioma series, based on their clinical, radiological, and location, to analyze the predictive factors of Grade II and III meningiomas. Patients and Methods:The clinical, radiological, operative and pathological reports of patients who were operated for intracranial meningiomas between September 1986 and July 2019 have been reviewed retrospectively from our patient database. Their age, sex, tumor location, absence or presence of peritumoral edema, and the pathological grade of meningiomas have been noted. The predictive effect of age, sex, peritumoral edema and location of tumor is analyzed statistically for pathological grade. Results:There were 1401 patients with intracranial meningiomas, 1015 of them were female, 386 were male (female/male=2.6). Their mean age was 52.2 years. There were 1219 Grade I, 164 Grade II, and 18 Grade III meningiomas. Male sex, and non-skull base location were predictive for Grade II and III meningiomas. Conclusion:While advising conservative treatment (follow-up, or stereotactic radiosurgery) for asymptomatic, incidental meningiomas, it should be kept in mind that male sex, and/or non-skull base location are risk factors for the more aggressive Grade II and III meningiomas.

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