ABSTRACT
Meningiomas are thought to arise from the arachnoid cap or meningothelial cells. This frequent apposition to the dura mater probably accounts for the usual attachment of the neoplasm to this layer. We report a case of intraparenchymal meningioma without dural attachment in a 14-year-old girl. A survey of the literature reveals that the majority of cases of meningiomas without dural attachment occur either in children or below the tentorium, and most of them located in the ventricle, the cranial vault. Intraparenchymal meningioma without dural attachment, however, are extremely rare. The uncommon locations of meningiomas at sites distant from the duramater is believed to reflect the rare occurrence of arachnoid cap cells in the Virchow-Robin spaces along the cerebral vasculature or in the pial layers distant from the dura mater.