Olivero W C, Lister J R, Elwood P W
Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, USA.
J Neurosurg. 1995 Aug;83(2):222-4. doi: 10.3171/jns.1995.83.2.0222.
Little is known about the natural history and growth rate of asymptomatic meningiomas. To better delineate this problem, the authors reviewed the clinical records and imaging studies of the last 60 patients diagnosed with asymptomatic meningiomas at their institution. There were 45 women and 15 men, whose ages ranged from 38 to 84 years, with a mean age of 66 years. The most common tumor location was convexity (25 patients), but virtually all locations were represented. Three patients were lost to follow up. The average clinical follow-up review of the remaining 57 patients was 32 months (range 6 months to 15 years). None of the patients became symptomatic from an enlarging tumor during their follow-up period. Typically, once a meningioma was diagnosed, follow-up scans were obtained at 3 months, 9 months, and then yearly or every other year thereafter. Forty-five patients underwent follow-up scans, with comparison of tumor size to that found on the initial scan, over a period ranging from 3 months to 15 years. Thirty-five patients have shown no growth in their tumor size, with an average imaging follow up of 29 months (range 3-72 months). Ten patients have shown tumor growth calculated as an increase in the maximum diameter of the tumor. This growth ranged from 0.2 cm over 180 months to 1 cm over 12 months, with an average of 0.24 cm per year. Average imaging follow up for these patients was 47 months (range 6 months to 15 years). The authors conclude that patients with asymptomatic meningiomas need close clinical and radiological follow up to rule out other disease processes and to rule out rapidly enlarging tumors. Although the average follow-up time was short, the vast majority of these tumors appeared to show minimal or no growth over periods of time measured in years. With modern noninvasive imaging techniques, these tumors can be safely observed until they enlarge significantly or become symptomatic.
关于无症状脑膜瘤的自然病史和生长速度，人们所知甚少。为了更好地阐明这个问题，作者回顾了他们机构最近60例被诊断为无症状脑膜瘤患者的临床记录和影像学研究。其中有45名女性和15名男性，年龄在38岁至84岁之间，平均年龄为66岁。最常见的肿瘤部位是凸面（25例患者），但实际上所有部位都有病例。3例患者失访。其余57例患者的平均临床随访时间为32个月（范围为6个月至15年）。在随访期间，没有患者因肿瘤增大而出现症状。通常，一旦诊断出脑膜瘤，会在3个月、9个月时进行随访扫描，之后每年或每隔一年进行一次。45例患者接受了随访扫描，在3个月至15年的时间段内，将肿瘤大小与初次扫描时的大小进行比较。35例患者的肿瘤大小没有增长，平均影像学随访时间为29个月（范围为3至72个月）。10例患者的肿瘤出现生长，计算方法是肿瘤最大直径增加。这种生长范围从180个月内增加0.2厘米到12个月内增加1厘米，平均每年增加0.24厘米。这些患者的平均影像学随访时间为47个月（范围为6个月至15年）。作者得出结论，无症状脑膜瘤患者需要密切的临床和放射学随访，以排除其他疾病过程，并排除快速增大的肿瘤。尽管平均随访时间较短，但在以年为单位衡量的时间段内，这些肿瘤中的绝大多数似乎生长极小或没有生长。借助现代非侵入性成像技术，可以安全地观察这些肿瘤，直到它们显著增大或出现症状。
