The arachnoideal compartment provides the vascular sources for three different tumor types rich in vessels: angiomatous meningioma, some atypical meningioma with high vascularity and meningeal hemangiopericytoma. We investigated immunohistochemically the expression and distribution of vascular mitogenes in 7 angiomatous meningiomas, 8 atypical meningiomas with high vasculature and 4 hemangiopericytomas. On the one hand it should be studied which vascular growth factors such as VPF/VEGF-1, VPF/VEGF-2, bFGF, PDGF and TGF-alpha could be responsible for the close meshwork of vessels within the tumors. On the other hand we were interested in whether or not there are differences in vascular mitogens between slowly growing angiomatous meningiomas and both other types with their increased tendency to recur. PDGF and TGF-alpha were extensively expressed in the endothelium and smooth muscle cells of the vessels, as well as tumor cells. VEGF-2 could only be found in endothelial cells of all three tumor entities. bFGF was localized in some vessels of angiomatous meningiomas and VEGF-1 revealed a very low expression with a localization comparable with VEGF-2. Moreover, uPAR was diffusely expressed in nearly all tumor cells and endothelial cells. The fact that tumor cells of hemangiopericytomas and meningiomas did not show any immunohistochemical reaction with VEGF's could indicate a lower priority of these growth factors for neovascularization in this type of neoplasm. A different expression of vascular mitogens between benign angiomatous meningiomas and atypical meningiomas as well as hemangiopericytomas with their tendency for recurrence could not be observed. The morphological evidence for extravasates of IgG-proteins, Fibrin and Fibronectin due to VPF-effects seems not to be a renouncable condition for neoangiogenesis in the tumors investigated.