Pediatric Skull Base Meningiomas: Clinical Features and Surgical Outcomes

The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical, pathological, and prognostic characteristics of pediatric skull base meningiomas. A retrospective analysis of 44 pediatric skull base patients younger than 18 years who underwent surgery at Beijing Tiantan Hospital was performed. The study group included 20 males and 24 females. Multiple lesions were seen in 8 patients. WHO grade I was found in 28 patients and higher grade was seen in 16 patients. Recurrence or progression occurred in 10 patients after the initial operation. The overall survival rate in the follow-up period for the entire cohort was 89.7%. The authors found no sex predominance in pediatric skull base meningiomas. In addition, this lesion was more often seen in their second decades. In contrast to skull base meningiomas in adult patients, pediatric skull base meningiomas had a higher incidence of nonbenign histopathological variants and a higher rate of recurrence.