Stereotactic radiosurgery of meningiomas following resection: predictors of progression

Residual or recurrent meningiomas after initial surgical resection are commonly treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), but progression of these tumors following radiosurgery is difficult to predict. We performed a retrospective review of 60 consecutive patients who underwent resection and subsequent Gamma Knife (Elekta AB, Stockholm, Sweden) radiosurgery for residual or recurrent meningiomas at our institution from 2001-2012. Patients were subdivided by Simpson resection grade and World Health Organization (WHO) grade. Cox multivariate regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses were performed to assess risk of tumor progression. There were 45 men (75%) and 15 women (25%) with a median age of 56.8 years (range 26.5-82 years). The median follow-up period was 34.9 months (range 6-108.4 months). Simpson grade 1-3 resection was achieved in 17 patients (28.3%) and grade 4 resection in 43 patients (71.7%). Thirty-four tumors (56.7%) were WHO grade 1, and 22 (36.7%) were WHO grade 2-3. Time from resection to SRS was significantly shorter in patients with Simpson grade 4 resection compared to grade 1-3 resection (p<0.01), but did not differ by WHO grade (p=0.17). Post-SRS complications occurred in five patients (8.3%). Overall, 19 patients (31.7%) experienced progression at a median of 15.3 months (range 1.2-61.4 months). Maximum tumor diameter >2.5 cm at the time of SRS (p=0.02) and increasing WHO grade (p<0.01) were predictive of progression in multivariate analysis. Simpson resection grade did not affect progression-free survival (p=0.90). The mortality rate over the study period was 8.3%. SRS offers effective tumor control for residual or recurrent meningiomas following resection, especially for small benign tumors.