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Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.

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Meningioma classification

Introduction

Overview

Overview

Meningioma has been classified into 3 groups by the WHO: benign classic meningioma (WHO grade 1), atypical meningioma (WHO grade 2), and anaplastic malignant meningioma (WHO grade 3). The WHO grade 1 group grow very slowly and consists of about 9 variants. About 3 variants correspond to WHO grade II, their association with malignancy is not clear but they grow faster than benign meningiomas. About 2 variants correspond to WHO grade III.

Classification

Classification

  • The table below lists the subtypes of meningioma according to the WHO grades:[1][2]
WHO Grade Subtypes

Benign classic meningioma
(WHO grade 1)

  • Meningothelial, fibrous, transitional, psammomatous,
    angiomatous, micrcystic, secretory, lymphoplasmacyte-rich, and metaplastic meningioma
  • They are low-grade tumors that grow very slowly and rarely invade the surrounding tissues

Atypical meningioma
(WHO grade 2)

  • Chordoid, clear cell, and atypical meningioma.
  • These are not clearly malignant, but grow faster than benign meningiomas
  • 4 or more mitotic cells per hpf and/or 3 or more of the following features: small cells, increased cellularity, necrosis, prominent nucleoli, sheeting, &/or brain invasion in an otherwise Grade I tumor

Anaplastic malignant meningioma
(WHO grade 3)

  • Rhabdoid, papillary, and anaplastic meningioma
  • 20 or more mitoses per 10 hpf and/or possess cytological characteristics of an obvious malignancy such that the tumor cell resembles carcinoma, sarcoma, or melanoma.
Gallery
Meningothelial meningioma Source: Case courtesy of Dr Victor Yang, <a href=”https://radiopaedia.org/”>Radiopaedia.org</a>.
Psammomatous meningioma Source: Case courtesy of A.Prof Frank Gaillard, <a href=”https://radiopaedia.org/”>Radiopaedia.org</a>.
Papillary meningioma Source: Jensflorian-wikimedia commons
Alcian blue histologic slide showing chordoid meningioma Source: Jensflorian-wikimedia commons
References

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Harter, Patrick N.; Braun, Yannick; Plate, Karl H. (2017). “Classification of meningiomas—advances and controversies”. Chinese Clinical Oncology. 6 (S1): S2–S2. doi:10.21037/cco.2017.05.02. ISSN 2304-3865.
  2. ↑ Commins, Deborah L.; Atkinson, Roscoe D.; Burnett, Margaret E. (2007). “Review of meningioma histopathology”. Neurosurgical Focus. 23 (4): E3. doi:10.3171/FOC-07/10/E3. ISSN 1092-0684.

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ifeoma Odukwe, M.D. [2] Haytham Allaham, M.D. [3]