Sporadic meningioangiomatosis: imaging findings with histopathologic correlations in seven patients

Introduction

Meningioangiomatosis (MA) is a rare benign cerebral lesion. We aimed to evaluate the CT and MR features of sporadic MA, with a focus on the correlation between imaging and histopathologic findings.

Methods

CT (n?=?7) and MR (n?=?8) images of eight patients (6 men and 2 women; mean age, 12.8 years; range, 4–22 years) with pathologically proven MA were retrospectively reviewed. After dividing the MA lesions according to their distribution into cortical and subcortical white matter components, the morphologic characteristics were analyzed and correlated with histopathologic findings in seven patients.

Results

CT and MR images showed cortical (n?=?4, 50 %) and subcortical white matter (n?=?7, 88 %) components of MA. All four cortical components revealed hyperattenuation on CT scan and T1 isointensity/T2 hypointensity on MR images, whereas subcortical white matter components showed hypoattenuation on CT scan and T1 hypointensity/T2 hyperintensity on MR images. Two cortical components (25 %) demonstrated enhancement and one subcortical white matter component demonstrated cystic change. Seven cases were available for imaging-histopathologic correlation. In all seven cases, the cortex was involved by MA and six patients (86 %) showed subcortical white matter involvement by MA. There were excellent correlations between the imaging and histopathologic findings in subcortical white matter components, and the accuracy was 100 % (seven of seven); whereas there were poor correlations in cortical components, and the accuracy was 43 % (three of seven).

Conclusions

The cerebral cortex and subcortical white matter were concomitantly involved by MA. Subcortical white matter components of MA were more apparent than cortical components on CT and MR imaging.