Abstract
A rare case of intracranial malignant meningioma with repeated local recurrences and widespread extracranial metastases is reported.
A 53-year-old man developed convulsive seizure of the right upper limb and the right side of the face in December 1969 and was diagnosed as having convexity meningioma in the left parietal region. The tumor was totaly removed in May 1970. In February 1974 he noticed right hemiparesis. The recurrent tumor was totally removed. It was a cystic meningioma with histological features of angioblastic type. Subsequently he underwent seven more operations in his clinical course, all of which were subtotal or total extirpations. At the fifth surgery tumors were recognized in the left frontal, anterior-temporal and parieto-occipital regions (multiple meningioma). In March 1980, a large recurrent intracranial tumor was detected by computerized tomography. Chest X-ray revealed a massive tumor shadow in the left lung and multiple nodules of varying sizes throughout both lungs. The patient died in July 1980, 11 years after the first diagnosis. Autopsy showed an extensive residual intracranial tumor in the left temporo-occipital region and multiple metastatic tumors in both lungs, pleura, pericardium and diaphragma. The metastatic tumors were similar to the intracranial meningioma in histological features.
