A rare, mostly benign, primary tumor of the meninges (arachnoid cap cells), usually located in the supratentorial compartment, commonly appearing in the sixth and seventh decade of life, clinically silent in most cases or causing hyperostosis close to the tumor and resulting in focal bulging and localized pain in less than 10% of cases. Additional features may include headache, seizures, gradual personality changes (apathy and dementia), anosmia, impaired vision, exophthalmos, hearing loss, ataxia, dysmetria, hypotonia, nystagmus, and rarely spontaneous bleeding.

A vascular malformation resulting from a developmental error of venous tissue composed of dysmorphic channels lined by flattened endothelium and exhibiting slow turnover. A venous malformation may present as a blue patch on the skin ranging to a soft blue mass. Venous malformations are easily compressible and usually swell in thewhen venous pressure increases (e.g., when held in a dependent position or when a child cries). They may be relatively localized or quite extensive within an anatomic region.