Are meningiomas fatal?
First of all, the episode, which included a temporary disruption of vision with flashing lights and numbness (and subsequently improved), in the setting of a nearby brain tumor, implies a seizure. Not all seizures involve the classic “shaking” that the general public is familiar with. Any tumor pressing on the brain (specifically, the cerebral neocortex, or the upper, outer part of the brain) can cause a seizure. The CT scan “picking up a meningioma” is a likely diagnosis, not a definitive one. The only definitve “gold standard” diagnosis is doing a biopsy or removal of the brain tumor, looking at the tumor portion under a microscope (pathology analysis) and determining a “meningioma.” Although most diagnoses of meningioma can be highly suggested by a CT or MRI scan, occasional other tumors can mimic a meningioma in appearance. Meningiomas, generally, are benign tumors which are not fatal (unless they grow and push on important brain structures enough to cause a problem). They typicall
