Learning objectives
To present the radiomorphological appearance of spinal meningiomas on different imaging modalities and to show their differential diagnosis.
Background
Spinal meningiomas are rare,
much less common than intracranial meningiomas (spinal meningiomas represent 12% of all meningiomas).
They are slow-growing,
predominantly benign,
mostly solitary tumors,
occuring at any age (peak incidence is at 50-60 years),
more common in females.
More than 95% are WHO grade I tumors.
They are the second most common intradural extramedullary tumor,
just after schwanommas.
A very small percentage of spinal meningiomas is extradural or mixed extra/intradural with the dumbbell appearance.
Multiple meningiomas are associated with neurofibromatosis type II and are...
Findings and procedure details
Meningiomas are dural-based,
well-circumscribed tumors which sometimes displace and compress the spinal cord.
Spinal meningiomas are mostly found in the thoracic spine (80%),
followed by cervical spine.
Location in the lumbar spine is the rarest.
They are most commonly located posterolaterally,
except in cervical spine where they are usually anterolaterally/anteriorly placed.
They are best depicted on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the intravenous injection of gadolinium-based contrast agent.
The main protocol at our department is T1-weighted images (T1-WI),
T2-weighted images (T2-WI) and post-contrast T1-weighted images...
Conclusion
Spinal meningiomas are an important differential diagnosis in patients with motor and sensory deficits,
weakness and/or radicular pain.
References
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Fundamentals of Diagnostic Radiology.
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2012
JS Ross,
KR Moore,
Diagnostic imaging: Spine,
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Elsevier,
Philadelphia,
USA,
2015
https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/341870-overview - Zee CS,
Go JL, Imaging in Spinal Meningioma
De Verdelhan O,
Haegelen C,
Carsin-Nicol B,
Riffaud L,
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Brassier G,
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MR imaging features of spinal schwannomas and meningiomas,
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www.raediopaedia.org - El...