What should I do if I have a meningioma?

  Meningioma accounts for a high proportion of cranial tumors, about 20-30%, and is second only to glioma in incidence. However, most meningiomas are benign, i.e. slow-growing, enveloped, and can be cured or controlled by surgical excision. Most of them can be removed cleanly without recurrence. For smaller meningiomas, observation or gamma knife treatment can be considered and is not a big problem. Therefore, if you find out that you or a family member has a meningioma, there is no need to be overly nervous.  Meningiomas originate from arachnoid cells and can occur anywhere in the skull where there are arachnoid membranes or arachnoid granules, so meningiomas can appear in many parts of the skull, some on the surface of the brain and some deep in the skull base. Because of this, the surgical difficulty of meningiomas varies greatly. Meningiomas on the convex surface of the cerebral hemispheres are primarily adherent to brain tissue and are generally easier to operate on, while those located next to the sagittal sinus are more difficult because the sagittal sinus must be properly treated, there must be no major postoperative changes, and there must not be a major impact on the venous return to the brain. Meningiomas at the base of the skull are a large group, including from front to back: meningioma of the olfactory groove, meningioma of the pterygoid spine, meningioma of the saddle node and saddle diaphragm, meningioma of the middle skull base, meningioma of the cavernous sinus, meningioma of the oblique region of the rock, meningioma of the posterior cranial fossa, meningioma of the greater occipital foramen, and so on. Meningiomas at the base of the skull have a significantly higher risk than meningiomas on the convex side of the brain because of their deep location, involving many arteries and veins, cranial nerves and important brain tissue. Parafalcine meningioma, cerebellar curtain meningioma, and ventricular meningioma are also more difficult to operate on because of their deep location, and therefore have increased risk. It can be argued that the risk of meningioma surgery varies depending on the location of the tumor.  Although the risk of meningioma surgery is also related to other factors such as the hardness of the tumor, the degree of blood supply to the tumor, and the adhesions to the vascular and neurological tissues, as well as the age and physical condition of the patient, the location of the meningioma is a very important factor. With the development of medicine and the advancement of neurosurgical microscopy, almost all meningiomas can be treated surgically, and most of them can be completely or nearly completely resected with a very high success rate (nearly 100%). Because the patient and the tumor are so varied, there are different responses, some requiring surgery, some requiring surgery plus Gamma Knife, some requiring Gamma Knife, some requiring radiation therapy, and some requiring observation, depending on the circumstances. The specific treatment plan is best made by an experienced physician. The correct choice of treatment plan is crucial, just like one should not choose the wrong direction when one reaches a crossroads.