Meningioangiomatosis with a predominant fibrocalcifying component

Abstract

A case of meningioangiomatosis, resected from the parietal lobe in a 31-year-old female is presented. Macroscopically, the lesion was composed of five calcified nodules embedded within hardened elastic tissue. Histologically, cortical and subcortical calcified masses were found surrounded by a palisade of spindle and/or oval cells. In adjacent nervous tissue many pathological microvessels were observed and some were ensheathed by a perivascular proliferation of spindle cells. Moreover, gliosis with Rosenthal fibers and prominent connective tissue elements were observed. Immunohistochemical analysis based on monoclonal antibodies was performed. The spindle cells both within the palisades and the perivascular proliferations were vimentin and usually epithelial membrane antigenpositive. The possible pathogenesis of meningioangiomatosis is discussed and the role of angiogenesis within this lesion emphasized.