Meningioma arising from the trigeminal nerve: a case report and literature review

We report a 69-year-old woman with a meningioma who presented with a 9-month history of progressive facial numbness in the distribution of the left mandibular nerve and left facial palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass in and around the left Meckel's cave (MC). The tumor was totally resected through a lateral suboccipital and subtemporal combined approach. It appeared to be a schwannoma, because it adhered firmly to the cisternal portion of the trigeminal nerve without dural attachment. Histopathological examination revealed that it was a meningothelial meningioma. We concluded that the tumor originated from the arachnoid cap cells within the trigeminal nerve sheath, not from the dura mater in the MC.