Nonepithelial tumors of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and nasopharynx. A clinicopathologic study. XIII: Meningiomas.

Twelve cases of meningiomas involving the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are reported. Meningiomas only rarely involve the upper respiratory tract; these 12 cases were found among the 566,000 surgical pathology cases that have been studied in this laboratory. In this series, five meningiomas probably arose in the cranial cavity and secondarily extended into the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Because radiographs demonstrated hyperostosis or bone destruction, three other tumors could have involved the cranial cavity, but this was never proven. In two other cases, the meningiomas appeared to involve only extracranial tissues and thus probably were primary extracranial lesions. (The data available in two other cases were insufficient to assess the possibility of intracranial involvement). These patients clinically had nonspecific signs and symptoms similar to those produced by other types of neoplasms growing in the upper respiratory tract. The tumor involved the sphenoid area in seven cases, the nasal cavity in six, the maxilla in five, the ethmoid sinus in four, and the frontal sinus in one. The diagnosis was first established when biopsy material was examined, although in several cases the presence of meningioma was first suggested on radiographic examination. Treatment depended upon the size and location of the tumor. In some cases, surgical resection appeared to control the lesion. These tumors did not appear to respond well to radiotherapy. The histologic differential diagnosis is discussed.