Management of pituitary endocrine function in craniopharyngioma / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

ABSTRACT

Craniopharyngioma is a kind of benign tumor of the relict squamous epithelial cells originated from the pituitary gland of cranial cheek pouch in the process of embryonic development. With an overall incidence of 0.13 cases per 100 000 person-years, they may represent up to 5%-10% of intracranial tumors in children. There is always debate regarding the appropriate treatment for craniopharyngiomas which often present symptomatically given their proximity to critical brain structures, and pose significant surgical challenges. And the complications caused by the treatment such as diabetes insipidus, hypothalamic obesity, and hypopituitarism, that throw out a challenge to the postoperative management and the quality of the patients. Craniopharyngioma should be recognized as a chronic disease requiring constant monitoring along with the clinical and multidisciplinary treatment in order to provide optimal care of surviving patients.