Diagnostics, Treatment, and Follow-Up in Craniopharyngioma

Craniopharyngiomas are partly cystic embryogenic malformations of the sellar and parasellar region, with up to half the 0.5-2.0 new cases per million population per year occur in children and adolescents. Diagnosis profile for pediatric and adult craniopharyngioma is characterized by a combination of headache, visual impairment, and polyuria/polydipsia, which can also include significant weight gain. In children, growth retardation, and/or premature puberty often occur later or postoperatively. Recommended therapy with favorable tumor localization is complete resection; with unfavorable tumor localization (optic nerve and/or hypothalamic involvement), consensus is still pending whether a limited resection followed by local irradiation is more prudent. Even though overall survival rates are high (92%), recurrences after complete resection and progressions after incomplete resection can be expected. Accordingly, a randomized multinational trial (KRANIOPHARYNGEOM 2007) has been established to identify optimal diagnosis, treatment (particularly the ideal time point of irradiation after incomplete resection), and quality of life strategies of this chronic disease - most notably the morbid hypothalamic obesity in ∼50% of long-term survivors. We report on craniopharyngioma origins, its pathological manifestations, and specific challenges these sequelae pose regarding diagnosis, treatment, and life-long multi-discipline quality of life management for both adult and childhood craniopharyngioma patients.