Characteristics and Survival of 121 Cats Undergoing Excision of Intracranial Meningiomas (1994-2011).

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To report clinical features and outcomes of cats undergoing excision of intracranial meningiomas. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, multicenter case series. SAMPLE POPULATION: One hundred and twenty-one cats. METHODS: Signalment, clinical signs, duration of clinical signs, preoperative drug therapy, diagnostic imaging reports, surgery, histopathology, and outcome were collected from records of cats undergoing excision of intracranial meningiomas. Survival estimates were made using Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: There were 76/121 neutered males and 83/121 domestic short-hairs. Body weight ranged from 1.5-8.7&#x2009;kg (median 5.0&#x2009;kg). Age at diagnosis ranged from 3-18 years (median 12 years). Clinical signs included changes in behavior, ataxia, seizures, visual deficits, circling, and paresis. Duration of neurologic signs ranged from <1-23 months (median 1.25 months). At the time of writing, 13 cats were alive, 54 were dead or euthanatized, and 54 were lost to followup. Seven cats (13% of cats that died; 6% of all cats) died or were euthanatized in the immediate postoperative period (<1 month post-surgery) and 9 cats (17% of all cats that died; 7% of all cats) died from causes related to the meningioma but outside the immediate perioperative period. The median survival time for all cats was 37 months (95% confidence interval 28-54 months). CONCLUSION: Cats undergoing excision of intracranial meningiomas had a low perioperative mortality and a long-term prognosis of more than 3 years.