Melanotic meningioma
Updates to Article Attributes
Melanotic meningioma(also known as is a rare histological variant of WHO grade I (benign) meningioma. meningeal melanocytoma)
Epidemiology
As only several dozen cases have been reported in the literature, no significant difference in prevalence difference washas been found between gender or agegenders/age groups.
Pathology
Melanotic meningiomas arise from leptomeningeal melanocytes, a small pigment cells found mostly in the meninges covering the ventrolateral surfaces of the medulla oblongata, posterior cranial fossa or Meckel cave 1,2.
Radiographic features
Given the small number of reported cases it is difficult to determine the most characteristic appearance.
CT
These tumours are most commonly isodense to grey matter, with variable enhancement 2.
MRI
Different signal intensities are probably correlated with the amount of melanin in the pigment cells. Possible causes of low signal intensity on T2-weighted sequences include decreased water content, paramagnetism, susceptibility effects or hemorrhagehaemorrhage 5.
- T1: iso- or hyperintense 1,4
- T2: hypo- or hyperintense
- T1 C+: homogenous enhancement
Treatment and prognosis
SimilarlySimilar to other meningiomas the treatment orof melanotic meningiomas is usually surgical excision, with complete tumor removal being the best therapeutic option (in terms of disease-free survival) 3.
-<p><strong>Melanotic meningioma </strong>(also known as<strong> meningeal melanocytoma</strong>) is a rare histological variant of WHO grade I (benign) <a href="/articles/meningioma">meningioma</a>. </p><h4>Epidemiology</h4><p>As only several dozen cases have been reported in the literature, no significant prevalence difference was found between gender or age groups.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p>Melanotic meningiomas arise from leptomeningeal melanocytes, a small pigment cells found mostly in the meninges covering the ventrolateral surfaces of the medulla oblongata, posterior fossa or <a href="/articles/meckel-cave-1">Meckel cave</a> <sup>1,2</sup>.</p><h4>Radiographic features</h4><p>Given the small number of reported cases it is difficult to determine the most characteristic appearance.</p><h5>CT</h5><p>These tumours are most commonly isodense to grey matter, with variable enhancement <sup>2</sup>.</p><h5>MRI</h5><p>Different signal intensities are probably correlated with the amount of melanin in the pigment cells. Possible causes of low signal intensity on T2-weighted sequences include decreased water content, paramagnetism, susceptibility effects or hemorrhage <sup>5</sup>. </p><ul>- +<p><strong>Melanotic meningioma</strong> is a rare histological variant of WHO grade I (benign) <a href="/articles/meningioma">meningioma</a>. </p><h4>Epidemiology</h4><p>As only several dozen cases have been reported in the literature, no significant difference in prevalence has been found between genders/age groups.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p>Melanotic meningiomas arise from leptomeningeal melanocytes, small pigment cells found mostly in the meninges covering the ventrolateral surfaces of the <a href="/articles/medulla-oblongata">medulla oblongata</a>, <a href="/articles/posterior-cranial-fossa">posterior cranial fossa</a> or <a href="/articles/meckel-cave-1">Meckel cave</a> <sup>1,2</sup>.</p><h4>Radiographic features</h4><p>Given the small number of reported cases it is difficult to determine the most characteristic appearance.</p><h5>CT</h5><p>These tumours are most commonly isodense to grey matter, with variable enhancement <sup>2</sup>.</p><h5>MRI</h5><p>Different signal intensities are probably correlated with the amount of melanin in the pigment cells. Possible causes of low signal intensity on T2-weighted sequences include decreased water content, paramagnetism, susceptibility effects or haemorrhage <sup>5</sup>. </p><ul>
-</ul><h4>Treatment and prognosis</h4><p>Similarly to other meningiomas the treatment or melanotic meningiomas is usually surgical excision, with complete tumor removal being the best therapeutic option (in terms of disease-free survival) <sup>3</sup>.</p><p> </p><p> </p>- +</ul><h4>Treatment and prognosis</h4><p>Similar to other meningiomas the treatment of melanotic meningiomas is usually surgical excision, with complete tumor removal being the best therapeutic option (in terms of disease-free survival) <sup>3</sup>.</p>