Platelet-activating factor and edema surrounding meningiomas.

OBJECT: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the involvement of platelet-activating factor (PAF) in the formation of edema surrounding meningiomas.

METHODS

Volumes of tumor and peritumoral edema were calculated based on three-dimensional reconstructed magnetic resonance images in 31 patients with intracranial meningiomas. The authors measured tumor concentrations of PAF and localized PAF and leukocytes in the tumors by using immunohistochemical studies. A significant positive correlation was found between peritumoral edema and PAF concentration. Both PAF and leukocyte common antigen were localized to the interstitial tissue of the tumor. Edema production was related to the degree of leukocyte infiltration in meningiomas.

CONCLUSIONS

It appears that PAF, which may arise from infiltrating leukocytes, is important to the development of peritumoral edema in patients with meningioma.