Psammomatous meningioma

Last revised by Rohit Sharma on 20 Jan 2024

Psammomatous meningioma is a histologic subtype of meningioma usually presented as a heavily calcified intracranial or spinal mass lesion. The meningothelial and psammomatous types are the most common involving the spine. 

Please refer to the articles on meningioma and spinal meningioma for a broad discussion of this entity.

Meningiomas are more common in women, with a ratio of 2:1 intracranially and 4:1 in the spine. This histologic subtype is particularly more common to arise from the thoracic spine. 

There is no relevant difference in clinical presentation among the various histologic subtypes of meningioma.  

The common histologic subtypes of ossified meningioma are transitional, psammomatous, and metaplastic 3. This densely calcified tumor is characterized by the presence of numerous psammoma bodies.

Plain films no longer have a role in the diagnosis or management of meningiomas. Historically, if visible, this subtype may be seen as a calcification along the neuroaxis.

Usually presented as an extra-axial calcified mass lesion, although in some instances the mass is hyperdense on CT without overt calcification (more sparse psammoma bodies).

Signal characteristics will depend on how calcified the tumor is. If very heavily calcified then the mass will be low on all sequences with little if any visible enhancement (burnt out meningioma). If calcification is less marked then signal characteristics are typically:

  • T1: hypo- or isointense

  • T2: hypo- or isointense

  • T1 C+ (Gd): presence of enhancement

Surgical treatment could provide a partial or complete resection of a tumor, and the overall prognosis will depend in large part on the entirety of resection.

Recurrence rates after a surgery are related also to a young age (<50 years), multiple lesions, calcification extension, and ossification.

ADVERTISEMENT: Supporters see fewer/no ads

Updating… Please wait.

 Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

 Thank you for updating your details.