[Multiple intracranial and spinal meningiomas].

Meningeomas are regarded as benign tumors that as a rule can be totally removed. The great prevalence of the benign types of meningeomas does not exclude their recurrence. In some cases (6-8% in the recent literature) a solitary globular tumor represents only the most visible actual growth in context of a systemic tumoral disease spreading over a wide area of arachnoid with simultaneous or delayed growth. In a series of 188 patients operated in St. Gall because of meningeomas, 13 (8%) have multiple simultaneous or delayed tumors, in one case in the spine, without neurofibromatosis. Several operations had to be performed on each patient. The prognosis quoad valetudinem is eventually worse than a solitary tumor. We present a detailed description of our cases and a résume of the literature.