RAPID DEDIFFERENTIATING MENINGIOMA WITH REPEATED MULTIFOCAL RECURRENCES AND PULMONARY METASTASES

A 62-year-old woman presented with a convexity meningioma which, after primary surgery, was histopathologically graded as grade II. There fo llowed three more operations due to repeated rapid local recurrences. After each of these three operations histology revealed dedifferentiat ed grade III tumors. At third recurrence moreover, other multiple tumo r masses in the vicinity of the primary tumor site and in the lung wer e found. These had the same histological appearance as the local recur rences. The patient died 30 months after primary surgery from respirat ory failure due to the multiple lung metastases.