Cerebral meningioangiomatosis in a CD-1 mouse: A case report and comparison with humans and dogs

Meningioangiomatosis is a rare proliferative disorder of the central nervous system. Several cases have been described in humans, a few in dogs, one case in a cow and one in a horse; meningioangiomatosis has never been recorded in rodents. The pathogenesis of this condition remains obscure and it is uncertain whether it represents a neoplastic or malformative process. Meningioangiomatosis is usually characterized by a plaque-like leptomeningeal proliferation of mainly spindle-shaped cells and small blood vessels, extending along the Virchow-Robin spaces into the adjacent neural parenchyma. In this report, we presented a brain lesion displaying the histopathological key features of the meningioangiomatosis and involving the base of the cerebrum (fronto-basal area) and the brainstem, found in a male CD-l mouse. The histopathological and immunohistochemical results are discussed, and compared with those previously reported in other cases of meningioangiomatosis. (C) 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.