title: Craniopharyngioma: the pendulum of surgical management.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For a long time, craniopharyngiomas have been considered surgically attractive tumours. The fact that they are rare, histologically benign, and located in a challenging (but considered accessible) area made them worthy surgical prizes.
  
  
  METHODS
  As we have saved vision and "cured" many of these tumours, the insidious and devastating effects on quality of life for these children has become evident.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The state-of-the-art in the surgical management of craniopharyngioma is now turning to multi-modality treatment strategies (combination surgery and radiotherapy) aiming to limit morbidity. Questions remain-what factors influence our surgical decision making? Do we understand the long-term effects of the radiotherapy now being employed? We review a series of craniopharyngiomas looking for variables that correlated with outcome as perceived in terms of quality of life and we review briefly the history of craniopharyngioma surgery and the relevant literature.
authors.affiliation: Service de Neurochirurgie Pédiatrique, Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, 149 rue de Sèvres, 75015, Paris, France. christian.sainte-rose@nck.ap-hop-paris.fr
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sainte-Rose
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puget
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wray
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zerah
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grill
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brauner
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boddaert
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pierre-Kahn
mesh_terms: D003397:Craniopharyngioma / Q000628:therapy*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007016:Hypophysectomy / Q000379:methods; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012658:Sella Turcica / Q000601:surgery; D016896:Treatment Outcome