ABSTRACT

Cystic meningioma is rare and accounts for 1.6 to 10% of all types of meningioma. Recognition of the diagnostic features of cystic meningiomas is important, because they may be difficult to differentiate from glial or metastatic tumors with cystic or necrotic changes, neuroblastoma, or hemangioblastoma. Different types of cystic meningiomas have been reported by various authors. We detected type 1 cysts in our first and third cases and a type 2 cyst in the second case according to the Nauta classification. Intratumoral cysts may result from cystic degeneration and ischemic necrosis or hemorrhage within the tumor and may be due to a secretory function of the tumor. Here we report three cases of cystic meningiomas and discuss the characteristics of these lesions with the studies found on Pubmed search.