Meningiomas in children: MR and histopathologic findings.

PURPOSE To present the MR and histopathologic findings in five children with meningiomas. METHODS Five children aged 3 months to 16 years with pathologically proved meningiomas underwent preoperative contrast enhanced MR. Tissue in four patients was sent for chromosomal analysis in addition to routine histopathologic studies. RESULTS All five tumors were extra-axial, two supratentorial and three in the posterior fossa. MR showed variable signal intensity on precontrast T1-weighted images. All of the tumors were hyperintense on proton density- and T2-weighted images and showed intense contrast enhancement. Histopathologic analysis showed two meningotheliomatous, one transitional, one chordoid, and one hemangiopericytic variant of meningioma. Chromosomal analysis showed deletions involving chromosome 22 in two of four tumors studied. CONCLUSION Meningiomas in children have a higher incidence of posterior fossa location and different histologic types than seen in adults. MR showed the tumors in our patients to be extra-axial, hyperintense on proton density- and T2-weighted images with intense enhancement on postcontrast T1-weighted images. Chromosomal aberrations were noted in two patients.