Meningioma with meningioangiomatosis: a condition mimicking invasive meningiomas in children and young adults: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Abstract

Meningioangiomatosis is a malformative meningovascular proliferation that occurs sporadically and in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2. Its histologic features of perivascular proliferation of elongated fibroblast and meningothelial cells trapping islands of gliotic cortex may be erroneously interpreted as invasion when an overlying meningioma is present. We report two cases of meningioangiomatosis associated with meningioma and review the literature on the subject for a total of six cases. The age of patients ranged from 9 months to 33 years. All cases were single lesions, and none had clinical evidence of neurofibromatosis type 2. Meningiomas in children have been regarded as having more aggressive behavior than their adult counterparts, with more frequent invasion of the underlying brain. The lack of correlation between brain invasion and recurrence observed in series of meningiomas in young patients may suggest that some of these lesions are meningioangiomatosis associated with meningioma rather than invasive meningiomas.