Clinicopathological Study of Meningioma in a Sample of Iraqi Patients in Baghdad District

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

1 Pathology Department, College of Medicine, Al Nahrain University, Baghdad, IRAQ

2 Al-Imamain Al-Kadhimain Medical City, Baghdad, IRAQ

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Meningiomas are tumors that arise from the meningothelial cells that line the arachnoidal cell layer of meningeal coverings in the brain and the spinal cord. They constitute one of the most common types of primary intracranial tumors. OBJECT: To evaluate a number of cases of meningiomas that have undergone surgical procedures in the past three years and to record the frequency of various histopathological variants and tumor grades according to 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification and their correlation with clinical parameters such as age, gender and tumor location. METHODS: A retrospective case series study of 57 patients with meningioma surgically operated in the neurosurgery department of Ghazi Al-hariri hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, between January 2018 and December 2020. The epidemiology, clinical manifestations, tumor sites and histopathological variants were studied. RESULTS: The mean age of patients in this study was 48.4 ± 12.5 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:4. Intracranial meningiomas represented 49/57 cases (86%). The most frequent clinical presentations for intracranial meningiomas were headache (61.2%), blurred vision (36.7%) and seizures (21.4%). WHO grade 1 meningiomas represented the vast majority of tumors in the present study with a total of 55/57 cases (96.5%). The most common histopathological variant was the meningothelial variant in 41/57 cases (71%). CONCLUSION: Meningioma is a common primary intracranial tumor in adults. Females are more prone to developing this tumor than males. Most cases of meningioma behave as benign neoplasms; however, a considerable number presented as recurrent tumors, which implies that further research is required. 

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