“Unfortunately, biological aggressiveness … can only be investigated after surgery. Differentiation between low- and high-grade meningiomas using conventional MRI is difficult. Imaging techniques that enable noninvasive, preoperative assessment of tumor biology and WHO grade could potentially be helpful in surgical planning,” states Dr. K. Mariam Slot, Neurosurgeon, Amsterdam University Medical Centers.

What did Dr. K Mariam Slot report in “Prediction of Meningioma WHO Grade Using PET Finding: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” in the Journal of Neuroimaging 2021; 31:6-19?

“The World Health Organization (WHO) grade of a meningioma reflects the recurrence rate and prognosis.

The 5 years’ recurrence rates … for WHO grades I, II, and III meningiomas are reported to be 5-25%, 30-50%, and 50-94%, respectively.

Beside on histopathological grade, the recurrence rate of meningiomas also depends on the extent of resection.

8F-FDG PET T/N ratio seems to have a high specificity for the detection of high-grade meningiomas. This, in turn, can influence the timing of surgery, the surgical strategy in terms of the extent of resection, and risks taken to achieve a total resection.”

Read Dr. K Mariam Slot’s article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jon.12795

What is 8F-FDG?: Glucose that has been tagged to allow imaging.

What is PET scan?: Positron emission tomography.

T/N: Tumor/Normal Tissue Uptake

What is 8F-FDG PET T/N?: Measures uptake of the tagged glucose. The more uptake, the more aggressive or high-grade the tumor. WHO grade II is more aggressive a meningioma than WHO grade I.

Dr. Greg Vigna, national pharmaceutical injury attorney and Physical Medicine Rehabilitation physician states, “It is disappointing that there is again, now another drug or medical device that has placed the health of women at risk. We have witnessed morcellators, Essure, transvaginal mesh, mid-urethral slings including the Altis and the Obtryx device, and now Depo-Provera and its’ risk of meningiomas. We represent the most injured. As a rehabilitation physician, I have managed the neurological complications caused by meningiomas, including my Father who suffered a stroke and hydrocephalus from a meningioma.”

Dr. Vigna continues, “There has been medical literature for decades that showed the potential risks of meningiomas with Depo-Provera. Pfizer could have run a registry decades ago. Instead, women had to wait for a retrospective electronic medical records data analysis from countries with national health.”

The Vigna Law Group is a national litigation firm that focuses on neurological injuries caused by medical malpractice, mid-urethral slings, and bad drugs including Depo-Provera. He represents women with the Ben Martin Law Group, a national pharmaceutical injury law firm in Dallas, Texas. The attorneys are product liability and medical malpractice attorneys, and they represent neurological injuries across the country.

Click here to read Dr. Vigna’s free book, Mother’s Guide to Birth Injury.

Click here for a free book on Vaginal Mesh Pain by Dr. Vigna: https://vignalawgroup.com/publications/