Damaged hypothalamus and brainstem following bleomycin administration into a cystic craniopharyngioma

ABSTRACT

A 23-year-old male patient with a cystic craniopharyngioma presented with mild right sided weakness and delayed sings of puberty. He underwent stereotactic insertion of catheter into the cyst attached to Ommaya reservoir, followed by contrast injection to rule out any leak from the cyst wall with uneventful surgical outcome. A total of 80 mg Bleomycin was injected into the cyst over an eight-day period. One-month later, the patient was readmitted with progressive neurological deterioration until he died secondary to toxic effect to the hypothalamus and brain stem three months later