INTRACRANIAL MENINGIOMAS FOLLOWING IRRADIATION - A GROWING PROBLEM

We present 10 cases of meningiomas occurring after high-dose irradiati on for other brain tumours. These constitute 3.7% of 272 patients with meningiomas treated in our unit over 10 years. The clinical and patho logical features of the 10 cases were added to those of 69 previous ca ses documented in the literature and compared with the features of our 262 spontaneous meningiomas. The literature on 119 cases of low-dose radiation-induced meningiomas was also reviewed. Malignant histologica l features and multiplicity were more common in the radiation-induced meningiomas (p < 0.01). Increasing long-term survival rates following radiotherapy for primary intracranial rumours, particularly in childho od, may lead to an increased incidence of postirradiation meningiomas.