Symptoms Of Meningioma

A meningioma is a relatively common type of tumor that occurs in the meninges, or the membrane surrounding the spinal cord and brain. About twenty-seven percent of all primary brain tumors are meningiomas. While frightening, the vast majority of meningiomas are benign and grow very slowly. Meningiomas rarely spread to other parts of the body, though depending on the location, a meningioma can grow quite large before causing noticeable symptoms. Meningiomas are most common among women and individuals between forty and seventy. The symptoms of meningioma will depend largely on the size and location of the tumor. Some patients have no signs at all while others develop classic symptoms of a brain tumor. Because of this, some meningioma diagnoses are only made when an MRI or CT scan is ordered for something else.

Get to know some of the symptoms now.

Vision Changes

Vision problems are most common with certain forms of meningioma, including sphenoid wing meningioma, located on the base of the skull behind the eyes (twenty percent of all meningiomas), and suprasellar meningioma, positioned at the base of the skull near the optic nerve and pituitary gland. Vision symptoms are prevalent with intraorbital meningioma in which the meningioma develops on the optic nerve sheath. These three forms of meningioma can compress the optic nerve and cause high pressure in the eyes.

Vision changes associated with a tumor that compresses the optic nerve can include loss of peripheral vision, an increasingly large blind spot, double vision, and blurred vision. Some patients even develop blindness as the meningioma grows.

Continue reading to get to know the next primary symptom of meningioma.

Memory Loss

Depending on the tumor's location and size, symptoms of meningioma may be very obvious or subtle. One of the most subtle signs is memory loss, which may also come with unsteadiness, abnormal gait, and carelessness. Memory problems may be the result of a tumor affecting the temporal lobe or frontal lobe. It's also possible for some patients to experience personality changes and weakness in the arms and legs when the frontal lobe is affected.

The frontal lobe is responsible for memory, learning, attention, executive functions like reasoning and problem solving, impulse control, emotional control, and understanding social situations. Convexity meningioma, which commonly affects the frontal lobe, can affect all of these.

Continue for more information on the various symptoms of meningioma.

Hearing Changes

Meningioma can cause hearing loss or hearing changes when the tumor affects the nerves that control hearing or the inner ear. Depending on the location of the tumor, hearing changes may include tinnitus in one or both ears or hearing loss. These changes in hearing may be caused by direct pressure from the tumor or an increase in pressure in craniospinal fluid.

Surgery to remove meningioma may restore some hearing loss, although not in every case. The larger the tumor is, the more difficult it usually is to restore hearing. Some patients can achieve normal hearing again after surgery, but others are left with some level of hearing loss or tinnitus.

Keep going to uncover another warning sign of meningioma now.

Seizures

A seizure can be a sign of meningioma. There are several forms of meningioma and many seizures that may occur. A myoclonic seizure refers to muscle twitches, spasms, and jerks. A grand mal or tonic-clonic seizure causes loss of consciousness and body functions. A sensory seizure causes changes in smell, vision, sensation, or hearing. A complex partial seizure can cause total or partial loss of consciousness.

A seizure is usually the result of convexity meningioma and falcine and parasagittal meningioma. Convexity meningioma accounts for twenty percent of meningioma cases and happens when the tumor grows on the brain's surface just under the skull. Falcine and parasagittal meningioma develop in or close to the falx, thin tissue separating the two sides of the brain.

Meningioma patients who are most at risk of a seizure are male, have brain edema, do not have migraines, or have meningioma not located at the base of the skull. According to one study, surgery was able to prevent a future seizure in about seventy percent of patients.

Keep reading to learn more signs of meningioma now.

Headaches

A headache or cephalgia is one of the most common symptoms of a brain tumor although it's a very general symptom. After all, many brain tumors can cause a headache, though most headaches and migraines are no cause for concern. On its own, even a severe headache does not indicate meningioma.

When cephalgia is related to meningioma, the pain tends to be persistent. A stabbing headache that lasts for hours and persists for days or weeks is often a heralding symptom of the disorder. Meningioma can cause a headache as it grows, which causes increased pressure inside the skull. In some patients, meningioma can also block the flow of cerebrospinal fluid around the spinal cord and brain, increasing pressure in the skull and also causing a migraine or a headache. A headache may also be accompanied by vomiting and nausea.