Meningiomas of the jugular foramen.

Primary meningiomas of the jugular foramen are extremely rare. There is controversy regarding the management of these tumors. The objective of this article is to analyze the treatment and results in a series of ten cases. From a series of 107 patients that had been operated on for jugular foramen tumors between 1987 and 2005, ten had meningiomas. The clinical, histological and imaging findings, as well as the outcome of these cases, were reviewed. A high incidence of malignant or aggressive tumors (six cases) was found. Gross total resection (Simpson I and II) was achieved in five patients. Four patients with meningotheliomatous meningiomas are alive, with a mean follow-up time of 71.8 months (6.5 years). Two patients (one with anaplastic type and one with papillary type) died in the immediate postoperative period. Four patients (two with papillary type, one with microcystic type and one with anaplastic type) died because of disease progression, with a mean survival time of 35 months. Radical removal of benign jugular foramen meningiomas is possible. The incidence of postoperative deficit of cranial nerves is higher than in other benign tumors of the jugular foramen. A high incidence of aggressive (malignant) tumors was observed in this series.