Spinal meningiomas in pediatric patients - A case series and literature review

Meningiomas are the most frequent intracranial tumors in the adult population; however, they are rare in pediatric patients. In children, meningiomas often require further diagnosis of genetic comorbidities. As many as, 50% of young patients with meningiomas suffer from neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). Spinal meningiomas include only 10% of pediatric meningiomas.

Between 2000 and 2017, three children were hospitalized in the Neurosurgery Department. The patients reported prolonged periods of increasing neurological symptoms. In each case, a total gross tumor resection was performed. Histopathology result in each patient was meningioma psammomatosum. Only one girl required adjuvant radiotherapy (RTH) due to recurrent tumors. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed spinal nerves schwannomas and bilateral vestibular schwannomas in two patients with NF2.

A slow tumor growth is characteristic of spinal meningiomas. Back pain is a frequent initial symptom of a slowly growing tumor mass. Subsequently, neurological deficits gradually increase. Patients require a long follow-up period and control MRI-scan. Children with diagnosed spinal meningioma should be strictly controlled because of the high risk of their developing other tumors associated with NF2. Surgical resection is the primary treatment modality of meningiomas. Adjuvant RTH should be recommended only for selected patients.