%0 Journal Article
%T Current Knowledge on Spinal Meningiomas Epidemiology, Tumor Characteristics and Non-Surgical Treatment Options: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis (Part 1).
%A El-Hajj VG
%A Pettersson-Segerlind J
%A Fletcher-Sandersjöö A
%A Edström E
%A Elmi-Terander A
%J Cancers (Basel)
%V 14
%N 24
%D Dec 2022 19
%M 36551736
%F 6.575
%R 10.3390/cancers14246251
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Spinal meningiomas are the most common primary intradural spinal tumors. Although they are a separate entity, a large portion of the knowledge on spinal meningiomas is based on findings in intracranial meningiomas. Therefore, a comprehensive review of all the literature on spinal meningiomas was performed.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>Electronic databases were searched for all studies on spinal meningiomas dating from 2000 and onward. Findings of matching studies were pooled to strengthen the current body of evidence.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>A total of 104 studies were included. The majority of patients were female (72.83%), elderly (peak decade: seventh), and had a world health organization (WHO) grade 1 tumor (95.7%). Interestingly, the minority of pediatric patients had a male overrepresentation (62.0% vs. 27.17%) and higher-grade tumors (33.3% vs. 4.3%). Sensory and motor dysfunction and pain were the most common presenting symptoms. Despite a handful of studies reporting promising findings associated with the use of non-surgical treatment options, the literature still suffers from contradictory results and limitations of study designs.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Elderly females with WHO grade 1 tumors constituted the stereotypical type of patient. Compared to surgical alternatives, the evidence for the use of non-surgical treatments is still relatively weak.