abstract meningeal melanocytoma is a primary melanocytic neoplasm with certain mr and immunohistochemical characteristics worthy to note. in a 38-year-old man with a complaint of headache for a couple of years and recently added nausea, vomiting, diplopia, progressive visual blurring and hearing loss, magnetic resonance imaging (mri) was remarkable for t1 shortening of leptomeninges and certain...

The majority of melanotic neoplasms of the CNS are metastatic in origin. Rarely, a primary CNS melanoma arises from the leptomeninges, which in certain regions normally contain melanocytic cells [1]. These primary neoplasms are usually histologically and clinically malignant [2]. The meningeal melanocytoma is at the benign end of the spectrum of primary melanotic neoplasms and is less common th...

OPINION STATEMENT Meningiomas are the most frequently diagnosed primary brain tumor accounting for nearly one third of all primary brain and central nervous system tumors reported in the United States. According to the 2007 World Health Organization classification scheme, Grade I meningiomas are benign, Grade II defines atypical lesions, while Grade III meningiomas are anaplastic or frankly mal...

Meningeal fibrosarcomas are rare tumors. Only 41 cases have been reported in the literature to date. Primary central nervous system fibrosarcomas are very aggressive neoplasms and have a poor prognosis. Hence they need to be correctly diagnosed. This is a case of a 13-year old boy with intracranial space occupying lesion. The mass was completely removed and histological examination was characte...

Primary pigmented tumors of the cerebrospinal meninges are rare and uncommon group of melanin-containing neoplasms. They include pigmented meningioma, malignant melanoma, meningeal melanocytoma, melanotic schwannoma and melanoblastosis. These tumors are different in biological behavior, treatment and prognosis. Valenti was the first to describe pigmented cells normally found in the leptomeninge...

A 70-year-old female presented to the emergency department with a 3-day history of intermittent dysphasia and right facial droop. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were obtained, and the patient was found to have meningeal carcinomatosis, also known as leptomeningeal metastases. Meningeal carcinomatosis is a rare metastatic complication of some solid tumors and hemat...

Plasma cell granuloma (PCG) are uncommon non-neoplastic masses of unknown etiology, characterized histologically by proliferation of connective tissue with an inflammatory infiltrate of mononuclear elements. They occur more commonly in the lung and conducting airways, but can also be seen in other tissues, such as the meninges. The imaging appearance of meningeal PCG can simulate more common ne...

BACKGROUND Meningeal melanomatosis is an extra-axial well-encapsulated malignant tumour with diffuse meningeal growth and dark coloration (due to high melanin contents), while meningeal melanocytoma is the focalized benign variant. Melanocytic lesions may be secondary to melanoma or be histologically benign, however, their diffuse nature makes them impossible to cure. Melanocytosis is a diffuse...

Hemangioblastomas are World Health Organization (WHO) Grade I neoplasms of the hindbrain and spinal cord, whose management can be complicated by preoperative hemorrhage. We report on a case of a young female in extremis with posterior fossa hemorrhage following rupture of a fusiform posterior meningeal artery aneurysm embedded within a medullary hemangioblastoma. We discuss management options, ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Traditionally, the diagnosis of meningeal carcinomatosis has been based on clinical suspicion and confirmed by cytologic study of cerebrospinal fluid. However, routine cytologic study may fail to detect malignant cells in a relatively large number of cases. We used immunocytochemistry in an attempt to increase the sensitivity of cytologic detection of malignant neoplas...