Overview and recent advances in incidental meningioma

Meningioma has a prevalence around 1% in the population, and with the increasing use and availability of diagnostic imaging modalities, incidental meningiomas are increasingly detected. There is no clear consensus on their management, although several guidelines suggest firsthand active monitoring if no aggravating factors emerge. However, no collective guidelines on follow-up interval exist.

This narrative review covers the epidemiology, diagnosis, growth prediction, and management strategies of incidental meningioma.

Overdiagnosis and excessive follow-up are potential pitfalls in the management of incidental meningioma. An MRI after 6-12 months could be reasonable to rule out rapid growth and differential diagnoses. Using the available prognostic models, one might later suggest more active monitoring for certain patient groups harboring specific radiological features predictive of growth. However, detecting growth may not necessarily be clinically significant as all larger non-growing meningiomas have at one point been small. Too much follow-up may place an unnecessary burden on patients and the health-care system and could be a driver toward overtreatment. It must be contemplated whether growth is an acceptable primary outcome measure or if there are other factors more relevant to consider in this often benign tumor entity.