Presentation of intracranial meningiomas in Johannesburg (a 12-month prospective study at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital)

Abstract

The study aimed at determining the relative frequency of intracranial meningiomas among primary brain tumours; age, gender, ethnic distributions and their mode of presentation. This was a 12-month prospective study of 48 consecutive patients with histologically proven intracranial meningiomas seen at CMJAH and CHBH. Meningiomas accounted for 33.8% of all primary brain tumours. The mean age of patients was 45.7 ± 10.1 years with a female-to-male ratio of 3.8:1. The peak age range at presentation was in the fifth (41.7%) and sixth (27.1%) decades. The highest frequency was in Blacks (75%) and Sotho ethnic nationality (27.1%). The mean duration of symptoms and signs was 24.4 ± 26.5 months. The commonest presentations were headache (87.5%), visual impairment (64.6%), seizures (43.8%), motor deficit (37.5%), convexity meningiomas (25%), meningothelial subtypes (39.6%) and WHO grade I tumours (81.3%). This study showed that meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumours among adults in our environment.