Challenging the osseous component of sphenoorbital meningiomas

Intraosseous growth is a unique feature of sphenoorbital meningiomas (SOM). Its close relation to neurovascular structures limits complete surgical resection and possibly contributes to the high recurrence rate.

To evaluate the growth behavior of intraosseous remnants and develop a protocol for precise intraoperative visualization of intraosseous SOM.

We included 31 patients operated for SOM from 2004 to 2017. The growth velocity of the intraosseous tumor component was volumetrically calculated in 20 cases. To improve accuracy of image guidance, we implemented a specialized bone surface-based registration algorithm. For intraoperative bone visualization, we included CT in multimodality continuous image guidance in 23 patients. The extent of resection (EOR) was compared with a standard MR-only navigation group (n = 8).

In 11/20 cases (55%), a progressive regrowth of the intraosseous SOM remnant was noted during a mean follow-up of 52 months (range 20-132 months). We observed a mean increase of 6.2 cm³ (range 0.2-23.7 cm³) per patient and side during the follow-up period. Bone surface-based registration was significantly more accurate than skin surface-based registration (mean 0.7 ± 0.4 mm and 1.9 ± 0.7 mm, p < 0.001). The EOR of the intraosseous component was significantly higher using CT + MRI navigation compared with controls (96% vs. 81%, p = 0.044).

Quantitative assessment of the biological behavior of intraosseous remnants revealed a continuous slow growth rate independent of the soft tumor component of more than half of SOM. According to our data, application of a multimodal image guidance provided high accuracy and significantly increased the resection rate of the intraosseous component of SOM.