Intracranial meningiomas in childhood.

We reviewed the case histories of 350 patients who were diagnosed as having intracranial meningeal tumor between 1960 and 1981. Of these, four patients (1.1%) had meningiomas during childhood. The patients were two boys and two girls, and postoperative observation ranged from 6.5 to 38.5 years. All four patients presented with seizures. In three out of four patients, the tumors were located in the convexity regions; the other was intraventricular. One of the four tumors demonstrated histologic malignancy, and the patient subsequently died; radiation therapy may have prolonged the survival of this particular child, however. The other three children with benign meningeal tumors have all enjoyed good-quality, long-term survival since the excisions of their tumors and the tumors' dural attachments.