Ear

Middle ear and inner ear tumors - benign / nonneoplastic

Meningioma



Last author update: 1 October 2013
Last staff update: 1 March 2021

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PubMed Search: Meningioma [title] ear


Nat Pernick, M.D.
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Cite this page: Pernick N. Meningioma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/earmeningioma.html. Accessed March 19th, 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
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
Positive stains
Negative stains
Additional references
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