Wc. Olivero et al., THE NATURAL-HISTORY AND GROWTH-RATE OF ASYMPTOMATIC MENINGIOMAS - A REVIEW OF 60 PATIENTS, Journal of neurosurgery, 83(2), 1995, pp. 222-224
Little is known about the natural history and growth rate of asymptoma
tic meningiomas. To better delineate this problem, the authors reviewe
d the clinical records and imaging studies of the last 60 patients dia
gnosed with asymptomatic meningiomas at their institution. There were
45 women and 15 men, whose ages ranged from 38 to 84 years, with a mea
n age of 66 years. The most common tumor location was convexity (25 pa
tients), but virtually all locations were represented. Three patients
were lost to follow up. The average clinical follow-up review of the r
emaining 57 patients was 32 months (range 6 months to 15 years). None
of the patients became symptomatic from an enlarging tumor during thei
r follow-up period. Typically, once a meningioma was diagnosed, follow
-up scans were obtained at 3 months, 9 months, and then yearly or ever
y other year thereafter. Forty-five patients underwent follow-up scans
, with comparison of tumor size to that found on the initial scan, ove
r a period ranging from 3 months to 15 years. Thirty-five patients hav
e shown no growth in their tumor size, with an average imaging follow
up of 29 months (range 3-72 months). Ten patients have shown tumor gro
wth calculated as an increase in the maximum diameter of the tumor. Th
is growth ranged from 0.2 cm over 180 months to 1 cm over 12 months, w
ith an average of 0.24 cm per year. Average imaging follow up for thes
e patients was 47 months (range 6 months to 15 years). The authors con
clude that patients with asymptomatic meningiomas need dose clinical a
nd radiological follow up to rule out other disease processes and to r
ule out rapidly enlarging tumors. Although the average follow-up time
was short, the vast majority of these tumors appeared to show minimal
or no growth over periods of time measured in years. With modem noninv
asive imaging techniques, these tumors can be safely observed until th
ey enlarge significantly or become symptomatic.