Third ventricular meningiomas

We report 13 patients with third ventricular meningiomas (TVM) and discuss the clinical, radiological, pathological and surgical features, as well as follow-up of these tumors. TVM are rare intracranial tumors, and because of this, there are few reports in the literature. Of 11,600 intracranial meningiomas that were surgically treated and pathologically confirmed at Beijing Tian Tan Hospital over a period of 10 years (2003-2013), 13 TVM were selected for a retrospective review. We recorded the clinical, radiological, pathological, and surgical data and statistically analyzed the preoperative, postoperative and 6 month postoperative Karnofsky performance scale (KPS) scores. TVM represented 0.11% of intracranial meningiomas. Radiologically, TVM were divided into three groups: anterior (n=3), posterior (n=3), and entire third ventricle (n=7). Three patients (23.1%) were misdiagnosed preoperatively. Total removal was achieved in 61.5% (8/13) of patients, and subtotal resection was achieved in 38.5% (5/13). Pathologically, the tumors were World Health Organization (WHO) Grade I in 11 patients (84.6%) and WHO Grade II in two (15.6%). There were no statistically significant differences in the preoperative, postoperative, or 6 month postoperative KPS scores (F=0.814; p=0.401). TVM without dural attachments are rare neoplasms that should be differentiated from choroid plexus papilloma, craniopharyngioma, and pineocytoma. Surgery is the optimal treatment and may result in a favorable prognosis, and understanding of the radiological subtype can help with the choice of surgical approach.