Typical Cases of Craniopharyngioma

In this section, we have provided clinical data from 15 cases of craniopharyngioma (CP) in which the details differ with respect to growth pattern. Emphasis has been placed on performance of the presurgical analysis and determination of the surgical aims, as well as potential surgical difficulties and the selection of a proper approach to achieve satisfactory exposure for tumor removal. Along with depictions of the tumors’ morphological features and schematic Fig. (1), we have described the surgical techniques and arachnoidal interfaces used for safe tumor removal while protecting vital neurovascular structures. Long-term follow up data have also been provided to demonstrate the patients’ prognoses. These cases have been subdivided into three types: infradiaphragmatic CP (Id-CP or “Q” type), suprasellar extra-ventricular CP with expansion in the subarachnoid cistern (SeV-CP or “S” type), and suprasellar subarachnoid CP with invagination to the third ventricular walls (SiV-CP or “T” type). Because of tumor growth along the longitudinal axis of the pituitary stalk (PS), each case might display different variations. We will illustrate this in special cases.

Keywords: Craniopharyngioma, Diabetis, Infradisphargmatic, Panhypopituitarism, Subarachonidal craniopharyngioma, Third ventricular floor.