[Angioblastic meningioma with metastases to the vertebra and adjacent bones: a case report]

A case of angioblastic meningioma with multiple metastases to the vertebra and the adjacent bones is presented. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital complaining of pain in the left arm, right chest and abdominal wall, the left buttock, and on the posterior surface of the both legs. He had first undergone subtotal removal of tentorial meningioma eight years before admission. Histological diagnosis of angioblastic meningioma was confirmed. He subsequently received radiation therapy when the tumor recurred six years before admission and again underwent subtotal removal of the recurrent tumor, followed by radiation therapy, four years before admission. Bone scintigrams demonstrated abnormal uptake of radionuclide by the vertebral arches of Th 1, Th 10, Th 11, the vertebral bodies of L 4, L 5, the right 7th rib, and the left iliac bone. Myelography and CT examination with intrathecal infusion of metrizamide revealed marked cord-compression by the space-occupying lesions at the level of the first and the tenth thoracic vertebral bodies. Chest roentgenograms, ultrasonograms and whole body CT examinations showed no other lesions. The tumor was partially resected from the iliac lesion. The diagnosis of metastatic meningioma was confirmed by the histological findings. Postoperative radiation therapy to the first, tenth, and eleventh portions of the thoracic vertebra, and the fourth and the fifth portions of the lumbar vertebra--the causative lesions of the pain--relieved the pain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)