[Clinical feature and surgical treatment of recurrent craniopharyngiomas].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the clinical feature and surgical treatment of recurrent craniopharyngiomas.


METHODS
The imaging features, intraoperative course, and postoperative outcomes of 83 patients with craniopharyngiomas were retrospectively analyzed.


RESULTS
Of the 81 patients that survived, 19 experienced recurrence of the craniopharyngioma 6 to 62 months after the completion of the initial treatment, with recurrence rates of patients with total, subtotal and partial removal being 5.3%, 52.9%, and 100% respectively. Five of the 24 patients aged 6 years or older, who had an incomplete surgical removal, received radiation therapy, and only 1 of them experienced tumor recurrence (20%) whereas as many as 15 of the 19 patients (78.9%) did who did not received it.


CONCLUSIONS
Surgery resection should be the primary therapeutic option for patients with recurrent craniopharyngioma and radiation therapy should also be considered but only as adjuvant therapy.
Qi
Song-tao
ST
Department of Neurosurgery, Nanfang Hospital, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
Pan
Jun
J
Zhang
Jia-lin
JL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003397:Craniopharyngioma / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies