The History of Arachne Through Historic Descriptions of Meningiomas with Hyperostosis: From Prehistory to the Present

Meningiomas in Ancient Human Populations

“…Given their symptoms—headaches, vomiting, seizures, visual and hearing impairment, muscular weakness, and personality changes [ 7 ] (p. 2)—meningiomas were devastating to their victims before Cushing pioneered a surgical remedy. In an engaging historical review of meningiomas, Cucu and colleagues [ 3 ] note that among the ancient Egyptians, at least two individuals with regions of cranial hyperostosis exceeding 4.5 cm have been recovered (citing Kamel Hussein’s cases [ 14 ], also discussed by Rogers [ 15 ]; they then note that although written records do not specifically mention this phenomenon, ancient treatment for similar conditions “included excision with a knife, local paste applications, burning with red-hot irons, spells, or leaving the swelling untreated” [ 3 ] (p. 38). It has even been argued that trepanation may have been one of the treatments for chronic headaches that often accompanied meningioma [ 16 , 17 ].…”

“…It has even been argued that trepanation may have been one of the treatments for chronic headaches that often accompanied meningioma [ 16 , 17 ]. However, it was not until the early 17th century when the first description of a tumor appeared that had all the classic characteristics of a meningioma in the living patient as is seen in the medical literature [ 3 ].…”

“…Campillo [ 4 ] notes only five cases in a review of 3000 crania from the Neolithic to Medieval periods in Spain. In his review of meningiomas, Anderson [ 28 ] identifies eight likely cases, Brothwell and Brothwell [ 29 ] discuss nine, and Cucu et al [ 3 ] as well as Okonwo and Lewis [ 30 ] list eleven. The most recent contribution to that literature [ 13 ] depends on its description and review of meningiomas on Anderson’s excellent but dated review [ 28 ] and adds only one case for a total of twelve.…”

“…Despite being soft tissue tumors, meningiomas are observable on the human skeleton when they cause hyperostosis of adjacent cranial bone. This association accounts for their early characterization as a discrete kind of brain tumor [ 3 ]. Campillo [ 4 ] has also created an eight-point scale of bone lesions associated with meningomas that includes increased vascularization, lytic destruction, and thickening of cranial tables.…”

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“…Meningiomas are tumors that arise from the arachnoid cap cells, being the most common slow-growing benign tumors of the central nervous system [1,2], and those that are probably most known for a long time [3]. Regarding the epidemiology of meningiomas, our previous studies have shown an increasing incidence and that these tumors are relatively common in the region served by our hospital [4][5][6].…”