ABSTRACT
Intraventricular rupture of craniopharyngioma cysts is an unusual event which is associated with a high risk of loculated or communicating hydrocephalus. A 75-year-old woman presented at the Emergency Department of our hospital with mental status deterioration due to chemical ventriculitis and acute hydrocephalus following the intraventricular rupture of a craniopharyngioma cyst. The patient was treated with stress-dose steroid therapy. In addition, she underwent placement of an external ventricular drain and endoscopy-assisted intra-cystic placement of an Ommaya reservoir for the aspiration of the cystic fluid. The patient's condition improved; she was shunted in an expeditious fashion and discharged from the Intensive Care Unit within 2 weeks of her admission with the reservoir in place for the continued drainage of the cyst.
ABSTRACT
Colloid cysts are considered benign brain tumors and usually occur in the anterior third ventricle. The clinical presentation may be nonspecific and heterogeneous including headaches, visual changes, nausea, and vomiting. The symptomatology is frequently associated with the development of hydrocephalus. Neuroendoscopic removal is increasingly replacing open microsurgical approaches as the standard of care for the treatment of symptomatic colloid cysts of the third ventricle. We describe the case of a 42-year-old man who was found to have a colloid cyst of the third ventricle while undergoing evaluation for a dural arteriovenous fistula. We highlight the rotational, or "swiveling," method for extraction of the colloid cyst.
