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Meningioma surgery in Tijuana
A meningioma arises from the meninges, not from the brain, and is almost always benign. That changes the operation completely: you look for the plane between tumour and brain, and you respect it.
A tumour that pushes rather than invades
A meningioma grows from the dura and displaces the brain instead of infiltrating it. That detail is the best news in this operation: a real plane of separation exists between tumour and nervous tissue, and working inside that plane allows complete resections without damaging what surrounds it.
That is why many meningiomas are cured by surgery. It is also why many small, asymptomatic meningiomas — found by chance on an MRI ordered for something else — are not operated at all: they are followed with interval imaging, and treated only if they grow or begin to cause symptoms.
The technique: cut the blood supply first
A meningioma feeds from the dura it grows out of. The classical surgical sequence starts by interrupting that supply at the base of attachment; from then on the tumour bleeds far less and can be hollowed out from within with the ultrasonic aspirator, so the capsule can be peeled off the brain without traction.
When the meningioma sits at the skull base, next to the cavernous sinus, or wraps around arteries and cranial nerves, total resection can be more dangerous than leaving a controlled remnant to follow or treat with radiosurgery. That decision is made with you, imaging in front of us, before theatre.
What the procedure involves
When it is indicated
- Meningioma symptomatic from mass effect, seizures or focal deficit
- Meningioma with documented growth on serial studies
- Meningioma compressing the visual pathway or a cranial nerve
- Convexity or falcine meningioma with a favourable approach
- Meningioma with significant peritumoural oedema
- Recurrence after previous incomplete resection
Techniques and resources
- Operating microscope
- Ultrasonic aspirator
- Bipolar coagulation
- Contrast MRI
- CT angiography when vascular doubt exists
- Duraplasty for closure
Frequently asked questions about meningioma surgery
Not necessarily. A small meningioma without symptoms and without surrounding oedema can be followed with serial MRI. It is operated if it grows, if symptoms appear, or if its location threatens an important structure. Watching is not abandoning: it is a plan with dates.
They can recur, and the likelihood depends on how much was resected and on histological grade. Grade I meningiomas resected completely, including the dural base, have the lowest rate. That is why imaging follow-up continues for years after surgery.
For small, deep or skull-base meningiomas, radiosurgery is a reasonable alternative, alone or after partial resection. For large tumours with mass effect, surgery remains what decompresses.
Bring your imaging and settle the question
One consultation with your MRI or CT in hand is worth more than ten internet searches. Book by phone or through the form and you will be told what is there, what it means and what your options are.