Abstract
Craniopharyngiomas are rare, mainly sellar/parasellar epithelial tumors diagnosed during childhood or adult life. They may present with a variety of neurological, visual, and hypothalamo-pituitary manifestations. Histologically, they are divided in two main subtypes, adamantinomatous and papillary, but mixed forms have also been reported. Despite their benign histological features, they often show an unpredictable growth pattern, which, combined with the lack of randomized studies, poses significant difficulties in the establishment of an optimal therapeutic protocol. Currently, surgery combined or not with radiotherapy are the most commonly used treatment modalities. Irrespective of the type of primary therapeutic approach, the long-term morbidity (endocrine, visual, hypothalamic, neurobehavioral and cognitive) is substantial compromising quality of life and survival. The identification of clinical and imaging parameters predicting patients with a better prognosis is difficult and central registration of patients may provide correlates between treatments and outcomes.
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Korevaar, T., Ntali, G., Karavitaki, N. (2012). Craniopharyngiomas: An Overview. In: Hayat, M. (eds) Tumors of the Central Nervous System, Volume 9. Tumors of the Central Nervous System, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5488-1_28
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5488-1_28
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