title: Congenital craniopharyngioma: a case report and literature review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although craniopharyngiomas are congenital tumors, they are rarely diagnosed in the prenatal or early neonatal period. Sometimes they are very large, debilitating and life-threatening, as in the case discussed here.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 21-month-old girl was referred for craniopharyngioma that had been diagnosed at 5 months because of neurologic complications. The pregnancy and birth were considered to be unremarkable. The birth weight was 4 kg, length 53 cm, head circumference 38 cm (n=35±1). Brain CT revealed active hydrocephalus caused by a very large solid, cystic and calcified supra sellar mass. MRI confirmed the process measuring 5 cm in height, multidirectional, diving into pituitary sella, displacing the brainstem. After several resections and reservoir drainage, the patient was blind, hemiparetic and she convulsed frequently. The patient died when she was 2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The large head circumference at birth, the size of the tumor, blindness, and hemiparesis observed before the age of 5 months suggested an antenatal process unnoticed because of inadequate gestational monitoring.
authors: Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Bab El Oued University Hospital, Algiers, Algeria. endofarida@hotmail.fr
authors: Farida
authors: F
authors: Chentli
authors: Faiza
authors: F
authors: Belhimer
authors: Farid
authors: F
authors: Kessaci
authors: Boudjemaa
authors: B
authors: Mansouri
mesh_terms: D003397:Craniopharyngioma / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000151:congenital / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed