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Paediatric meningiomas: a multi-centre case series of 27 patients
Luke Rhys Mattey1, Zoë James2, Taha Lilo3
1Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, Wales, UK. lukermattey@gmail.com.
Insights
Paediatric meningiomas show higher recurrence rates for grade 1 tumors than in adults. The World Health Organization (WHO) grading system may not fully reflect recurrence risk in children, necessitating further research.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric neurosurgery
- Neuro-oncology
- Tumor biology
Background:
- Meningiomas are rare in children, with limited data on their specific characteristics and outcomes.
- Understanding paediatric meningiomas is crucial for developing targeted treatment strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the aetiology, risk factors, and outcomes of paediatric meningiomas.
- To compare paediatric meningioma data with existing literature on adult cases.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 27 surgically treated paediatric meningiomas across three UK centers over 15 years.
- Data collected included patient demographics, tumor characteristics (location, grade, histology), treatment details, complications, and outcomes.
- Associated conditions, particularly neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), were also recorded.
Main Results:
- 27 patients underwent 39 procedures; 75% were WHO grade 1, 21% grade 2, and 4% grade 3.
- Eight patients (30%) had confirmed NF2; 12 (44%) were sporadic.
- Recurrence rates were 25% for WHO grade 1 and 50% for WHO grade 2 meningiomas.
Conclusions:
- Paediatric meningiomas, particularly grade 1, exhibit higher recurrence rates than adult counterparts.
- The current WHO grading system may not accurately predict recurrence risk in pediatric cases.
- Further molecular profiling and larger cohort studies are essential due to the rarity of these tumors.
Purpose:
This study presents a series of paediatric meningiomas and discusses aetiology, risk factors and outcomes with comparison to current literature.
Methods:
This is a retrospective review of surgically treated paediatric meningiomas from three UK centres: the University Hospital of Wales, Alder Hey Children's Hospital and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. Twenty-seven patients aged 16 and under at the time of their first procedure were identified over a 15-year period (1 January 2007 and 1 March 2023). Electronic medical records were used to collect data on age at presentation, sex, location of tumour(s), extent of resection, histology, WHO grade, complications, outcomes and associated conditions, notably neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2).
Results:
Twenty-seven patients underwent 39 procedures. There were 13 males and 14 females. The median age was 13 years (range, 8 months to 16 years). Twenty-one (75%) were WHO grade 1, 6 (21%) were grade 2 and 1 (4%) was grade 3. Eight patients (30%) had confirmed NF2. Twelve patients (44%) were sporadic cases. Twenty-five percent and 50% were the recurrence rate in WHO grade 1 and 2 tumours, respectively.
Conclusion:
The risk of grade 1 tumour recurrence was higher than within the adult population. This may be due to histological features of paediatric meningiomas differing from the adult population, and therefore, the WHO grading system may not be reflective of recurrence risk. Future molecular profiling and larger studies are required given the rarity of these cases.
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