Skull base meningioma: Delayed extracranial presentation

Meningiomas are common intracranial tumors that rarely extend to extracrani al sites. When they occur extracranially near the skull base, their diagnos is and management represent tremendous challenges. Although the extracrania l component tends to manifest at the same time as the intracranial componen t, this is not always the case. In the patient reported in this article, 13 years separated the diagnosis of the intracranial tumor from the appearanc e of an extracranial component. The clinical presentation, radiologic findi ngs, and management of this large skull base meningioma are discussed with reference to the literature. A high index of suspicion and clinical acumen are needed to ensure that the extracranial component of these frequent tumo rs is discovered, especially when it presents later than the intracranial c omponent.