Foramen Magnum Meningioma: Successful Surgical Resection in a 76-year-old Nigerian

Introduction

Foramen magnum meningioma (FMM) is a very rare intracranial lesion[1]. It constitutes such a small percentage (about 2%) of brain tumors[2] that even high volume neurosurgical centers in Western countries report series averaging only one case per year[2] [3]. One explanation for this rarity is the difficulty in making a clinical diagnosis of FMM, especially before the advent of diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)[4] [5] [6]. The other, more important, reason, however, is the great technical challenge of tumor-ablative surgery in the foramen magnum, a highly limited bony region crowded over by many critical neural-vascular structures of the cervicomedullary junction[7] [8] [9]. This may actually be the main reason why reports of surgical treatment of FMM are much rarer still from resource-poor settings. We present one case recently managed successfully in such a practice setting in Nigeria. We are not aware of any other similar report in the accessible literature from Africa.

References

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