什麽是脑膜瘤（What is meningioma）.doc

什麽是脑膜瘤（What is meningioma） What is meningioma? Meningiomas account for fifteen percent of brain tumors. Ninety-seven percent of meningiomas are benign, but three percent of meningiomas may have malignant features. Most meningiomas grow very slowly, so they are large before they are found, until they cause headaches, epilepsy, or neurological symptoms. Meningiomas may have been present for five or ten years before they are discovered. As the name suggests, meningiomas grow out of the meninges between the skull and brain. Although meningioma is classified as one of the brain tumors, it is not actually in the brain but rather on the surface of the brain. Since the meninges covers the entire brain surface, meningiomas can appear anywhere in the brain (or the spinal cord, which also has the same membrane coating). Sometimes meningiomas can hold nerves or blood vessels, which can make treatment more difficult. This is common in meningioma of the skull base because most of the important neurovascular vessels are located at the base of the skull. Most meningiomas occur randomly, and the cause is unknown. However, a small number of patients with multiple neurofibroma and multiple meningiomas are familial because of genetic problems. Meningiomas are predominantly female (women are four times as large as men), the age distribution is most common between fifty and seventy years old, so it is believed that changes in menopause may be related to tumor growth. Treatment options for meningiomas There are four options for the treatment of meningiomas: Waiting for observation Surgical resection Conventional radiotherapy Stereotactic radiosurgery Waiting for observation Meningiomas were not treated after MRI, and magnetic resonance imaging was performed continuously every six to twelve months. This is not a good option for patients with large and symptomatic tumors. But because meningiomas usually grow slowly, if the tumor is not large, it is also a reasonable option for elderly or ot