Variants of meningiomas: a review of imaging findings and clinical features

Meningiomas are common neoplasms that frequently occur in the brain and spine. Among the 15 histological subtypes of meningiomas in the WHO classification, the incidence of meningothelial meningiomas is the highest, followed by fibrous and transitional meningiomas. These three subtypes account for approximately 80 % of all meningiomas, and thus could be regarded as typical meningiomas. For this reason, other uncommon histological subtypes may be considered as imaging variants, and diagnosis is often challenging for radiologists solely based on imaging features of typical meningiomas. In addition to the histological subtypes, meningiomas arising in atypical locations could be easily mistaken for other lesions more commonly observed in those locations. The purpose of this article is to review characteristic clinical and imaging findings of uncommon meningiomas, including histological variants and meningiomas occurring in relatively rare locations.