This week E! News anchor Maria Menounos announced she recently had surgery to remove a golf-ball sized meningioma brain tumor.

What is a meningioma brain tumor? A meningioma (me·nin·gi·o·ma) is a benign -- not cancerous -- tumor in the brain. A meningioma brain tumor occurs from the membranes (called the meninges) that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Meningioma brain tumors appear most commonly in older women, but can also appear in males and people of any age, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Symptoms of a meningioma brain tumor include

• memory loss
• vision changes
• hearing loss
• headaches that worsen over time
• seizures
• weakness in the arms or legs

Maria Menounos said she began feeling lightheaded and started having headaches in February. Meningioma brain tumors are slow growing, so most signs and symptoms slowly appear and/or increase over time. Singer Sheryl Crow was also diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor in 2012.

After signs/symptoms appear, meningiomas are usually diagnosed with a head/brain MRI exam. At Suburban Imaging, our neuroradiologists specialize in MRI of the brain and spine and can detect tumors and other abnormalities of the central nervous system.