Meningioma mimicking an intraparenchymal cystic tumor

Meningiomas rarely exhibit cystic lesions with mural nodules, and may be misdiagnosed as intraparenchymal cystic tumors. We herein present a 64-year-old woman with a cystic lesion and enhancing mural nodule in the left temporal lobe accompanied by peritumoral brain edema. Differential diagnoses included low-grade gliomas, hemangioblastoma, and cystic meningioma. Gross total resection of the tumor was achieved through a temporal surgical approach. Intraoperative findings showed that the tumor was an extraparenchymal tumor. The cyst was covered by an extraparenchymal thin membrane and the cystic fluid was yellowish in color. The final result of the pathological examination was microcystic meningioma, WHO grade I. Although intraparenchymal tumors, such as hemangioblastoma, ganglioglioma, pilocytic astrocytoma, and pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, commonly display this MRI pattern, meningioma needs to be included in the differential diagnosis.