Ear
Middle ear and inner ear tumors - benign / nonneoplastic
Meningioma
Author: Nat Pernick, M.D.
Last author update: 1 October 2013
Last staff update: 1 March 2021
Copyright: 2002-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Meningioma [title] ear
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Case reports | Radiology description | Treatment | Gross description | Microscopic (histologic) description | Positive stains | Negative stains | Differential diagnosis | Additional referencesCite this page: Pernick N. Meningioma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/earmeningioma.html. Accessed November 27th, 2024.
Definition / general
- Benign tumor arising from arachnoid cells
- Must exclude secondary extension from intracranial tumor
- 13 - 18% of intracranial tumors
- Usually women, age 40+ years; rarely children
- Internal auditory canal meningiomas are rare (AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2006;27:2204), may mimic vestibular schwannoma (AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2002;23:1493)
- Temporal en plaque meningioma involving the middle ear or mastoid may mimic otitis media (Otol Neurotol 2006;27:992)
- Neurofibromatosis patients have increased incidence, also more likely to have multiple tumors and extracranial tumors
- Excellent prognosis with overall raw survival of 15.5 years; no metastases but may recur locally
Case reports
- 18 year old woman with intralabyrinthine meningioma (AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2003;24:1642)
- 44 year old woman with temporal bone secretory meningioma presenting as a middle ear mass (Pathol Res Pract 2006;202:481)
- 48 year old woman with association of primary intracranial meningioma and cutaneous meningioma of external auditory canal (Arch Pathol Lab Med 1998;122:97)
- 58 year old woman with meningioma of internal auditory canal (Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2003;61:659)
Radiology description
- Speckled calcifications in soft tissue mass
Treatment
- Complete excision
- Recur if inadequate excision
Gross description
- 0.5 to 4.5 cm, gray-white-pink, firm, usually fragmented into small pieces
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Resemble intracranial tumors
- Whorls, nests or lobular growth of round / oval or spindled cells with pale cytoplasm, indistinct cell borders, punched out or empty nuclei due to intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions
- Psammoma bodies
- Often microscopic bone invasion
- Cholesteatoma is often present
Negative stains
- Keratin, neuroendocrine markers
Differential diagnosis
Additional references
