Surgical resection without dural reconstruction of a lumbar meningioma in an elderly woman

Meningiomas of the spine occur in the thoracic spine in approximately 80%, followed in frequency by the cervical and lumbar regions. The treatment of spinal meningiomas is complete surgical resection. As intraspinal meningiomas are almost always adherent to the dura, extensive dural resection or diathermic treatment of the dural attachment is usually performed to prevent tumor recurrence. The authors present the case of lumbar spinal meningioma in 82-year-old woman. Successful resection with preservation of the dura mater using the technique of Saito et al. (Spine 26: 1805-1808, 2001) is described: After lumbar laminectomy a small incision was made in the surface of the spinal dura. The dura mater was separated into its inner and outer layers, and the tumor was resected with inner layer alone, preserving the outer layer. The outer layer is simply closed to achieve a watertight seal. The pathologic diagnosis was metaplastic (osseous) meningioma. Almost full recovery of the neurologic deficit was attained. Neither complication nor tumor recurrence has occurred in the 5 years since surgery. Dural preservation during surgical resection of spinal meningioma obviates the need for dural reconstruction and should reduce surgical morbidity. However, the patient should be followed long-term to watch for recurrence.