ABSTRACT
Based on retrospective analysis of 212 cases diagnosed and at the king khalid University Hospital in Riyadh over a period of 5 years, this study is the fist attempt to provide preliminary data on intracranial space-occupying lesions in Saudi Arabia. There were 184[87%] neoplasm and 28 [13%] nonrealistic tumors, mostly inflammatory masses. Age and sex distribution was comparable with that reported from other studies. Neuroepithelial tumors comprised 39.7% of all intracranial neoplasms, followed by meningiomas [22.8], pituitary adenomas [16.8%], metastatic tumors [8.2%], malformative tumors [4.3%], and neurinomas [3.8%]. Males were generally more affected than females. Tuberculomas constituted about 5% of all intracranial space-occupying lesions and, therefore, should always be considered in the differential diagnosis