Background: Tumours of the eyelid and orbit with different biological behaviour and localisation may cause eyelid swelling. Orbital meningiomas are rare, particularly in childhood and adolescence.
Case report: We report the case of an 8-year-old girl with frontobasal meningioma, who was admitted to the hospital because of a one-sided upper eyelid swelling. With the example of this case, the diagnosis, treatment and aftercare of meningiomas in childhood and adolescence will be discussed.
Conclusions: The treatment strategy of meningiomas in childhood requires a close interdisciplinary cooperation of ophthalmology, paediatric oncology, neurosurgery and radiotherapy. Moreover, controlled investigations should yield information about the efficiency of modern irradiation techniques or adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of inoperable or malignant meningiomas.