Meningioma is sometimes urgent but not always.
If you have sudden onset of seizures, sudden changes in your memory or vision then meningioma becomes urgent and you should seek emergency medical care right away.
Meningiomas are tumors which arise from the meninges which are the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.
Although not technically a brain tumor, meningiomas are included in this category because it can compress or squeeze the adjacent brain, nerves and vessels.
If you leave a meningioma untreated, it can grow as large as a grapefruit and can cause persistent headaches, nausea, loss of neurological function, weakness and/or numbness and tingling on one side of the body, seizures, hearing or vision loss, balance problems, and muscle weakness.
Most meningiomas are small, slow-growing and noncancerous, and many do not need to be removed or otherwise treated.
However, if a meningioma presses against the brain or spinal cord, surgery or another treatment may be considered to manage the resulting neurological symptoms.
Although the majority of meningiomas are benign, these tumors can grow slowly until they are very large, if left undiscovered, and, in some locations, can be severely disabling and life-threatening. Other forms of meningioma may be more aggressive.
More than 90% of adults between the ages of 20 and 44 survive for five years or longer after being diagnosed with meningioma.
This encouraging survival rate includes many patients who have gone on to live several decades after their diagnosis.
Meningiomas are the most common kind of brain tumor and account for about 30 percent of all brain tumors and most are treatable.
In fact, the majority of these tumors can be removed surgically, and many do not return.
Larger meningiomas may be more difficult to treat surgically in terms of their complete removal, depending on where they are located.
Although most large and giant meningiomas require surgical treatment, the decision for removal of smaller meningiomas (less than 3 centimeters in diameter) must be individualized.