Elsevier

Neurochirurgie

Volume 67, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 119-124
Neurochirurgie

Original article
WHO classification of meningiomas–A single institutional experience

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuchi.2020.10.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Introduction

Meningiomas are among the most common intracranial neoplasms worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the neoplasm into three grades with each grade having several histological variants. Several studies done in blacks have shown differences with Caucasian populations regarding the occurrence of histological variants. Our study sought to examine the histological variants of meningioma seen in a predominantly black population using the WHO grading system.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study of all meningiomas seen in our hospital facility for over twenty years. An analysis of data from all the patients diagnosed with meningioma, who also had surgical biopsies taken, was done. The meningiomas were graded using the WHO grading system and also classified into different histological variants within each grade as described by the WHO study group.

Results

The study included a total number of 163 biopsies. There were more females diagnosed with meningiomas with a female to male ratio of 1.4. Most of the tumors were grade one, however, there were more males with malignant meningiomas. Transitional meningiomas were the most commonly seen variants among the grade one tumors while atypical and anaplastic were most common in grades two and three, respectively.

Conclusion

A larger population-based study is needed to provide epidemiological data on the occurrence of meningiomas in blacks.

Section snippets

Method

We conducted a retrospective study of all surgical biopsies diagnosed as meningiomas in our hospital facility for over twenty years. The study location, the University College Hospital, was the biggest hospital facility in the southwest region of Nigeria during the study period and regarded as the premier center for neurosurgery in the country.

Reports of all previously diagnosed meningiomas were retrieved and the tissue sections re-examined individually by two pathologists to confirm the

Results

During the study period, 756 patients with intracranial tumors were attended to in the hospital facility and 171 biopsies were diagnosed histologically as meningioma. Eight of the cases were excluded from the study for lack of adequate data, while 163 cases were included. The age range of the patients was from 7months to 78yrs, but most of the patients were adults. The mean age for all the patients was 45yrs ± 15.72 (Table 1), however, most of the patients had their ages within the fourth to the

Discussion

Previous studies done in colder climes have shown a higher occurrence of meningiomas in females as compared with males, and this is similar to what was seen in our data (Table 2). However, the male-female ratio of 1:1.4 seen in the index study suggests that the difference between the genders is narrower in blacks as compared to Caucasians in which the ratio usually is more than 1:2 [10], [14], [15], [16]. This finding is similarly buttressed by previous studies, which had shown similar gender

Limitations

The major limitation of this study is the fact that it is from a single hospital and the data may portray the patient referrals to the facility. It may not reflect the complete epidemiology of meningioma in the population. Another limitation of this study is the poor follow-up of diagnosed patients which prevented the recurrence of the tumour in the study population to be determined.

Conclusion

Although this study suggests a difference in the gender ratio of patients with meningioma in blacks compared with Caucasians, a larger, preferable population-based study is needed to provide reliable epidemiological data on the occurrence of meningiomas in blacks.

Human and animal rights

The authors declare that the work described has not involved experimentation on humans or animals.

Informed consent and patient details

The authors declare that this report does not contain any personal information that could lead to the identification of the patient(s) and/or volunteers.

Authors’ contributions

All authors attest that they meet the current International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) criteria for Authorship.

Disclosure of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

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