Considerations on the malignancy of papillary meningioma. Clinico-pathological study of eight cases

Eight papillary meningiomas, out of a collection of 750 cases of meningiomas, have been studied clinically and anatomopathologically. 2 had long survival without recurrences, 2 died shortly after operation, 4 had one or more recurrences with death. The 2 cases with long survival showed, at microscopical examination, few mitoses. On the contrary, in the six cases come to death the histological features were characterized by marked pleomorphism, focal necroses and frequent typical and atypical mitoses. In these cases, the correlation between "more malignant" histological aspects and "more aggressive" clinical behaviour is undoubtedly suggestive.