Intracranial meningiomas developing at long intervals following low-dose X-ray irradiation of the head.

Five patients are reported who underwent X-ray epilation in childhood for tinea capitis and who developed meningiomas after about four decades. X-ray irradiation resulted in permanent alopecia in four of the five patients. In four patients the tumors were found on the convexity, one patient had a tuberculum sellae meningioma. All five patients underwent surgery. Recurrence was noted in three of the five patients, one of them was reoperated. No malignant features, but signs of atypia were found at histopathological examination. The development of meningiomas after low-dose irradiation with long latency periods, the predominant calvarial location of the tumors, the high recurrence rates, the absence of malignant traits but the presence of atypias are features overwhelmingly common with similar cases published in the literature. The fact that two of the five patients were sisters stresses the importance of genetic factors in the evolution of these tumors.