Posterior fossa meningiomas. A report of 30 cases.

The clinical symptoms of thirty patients with surgically treated posterior fossa meningiomas were reviewed. These included 16 cerebellopontine (CPA), 7 cerebellar, 4 carrefour-falco-tentorial (CFT), 2 foramen magnum, and 1 clivus meningiomas. Careful attention to clinical findings is necessary in diagnosing these tumors. With rare exception they have an insidious onset and even after having reached considerable size, the ensuing neurological abnormalities might not be revealing. On occasion there are false localizing neurological findings. Neuroradiological localization is essential to obtain accurate diagnosis and to plan the best operative approach. Radioactive brain scanning offers the best screening method. Although air studies remain useful, angiography of vessels of the posterior foss is assuming a dominant role in diagnosis and surgical planning.