Turkish Neurosurgery 2018 , Vol 28 , Num 2
Early Ectopic Recurrence of Craniopharyngioma in the Cerebellopontine Angle
Mohamad-Motaz AL MAHDI1,Joachim K. KRAUSS1,Makoto NAKAMURA1,Almuth BRANDIS2,Bujung HONG1
1Hannover Medical School, Department of Neurosurgery, Hannover, Germany
2Nordstadt Hospital, Department of Pathology, Hannover, Germany
DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.17215-16.1 Ectopic recurrence of craniopharyngioma in the cerebellopontine angle after surgical resection of a suprasellar craniopharyngioma is rare. Thus, only 5 cases were reported with a delay ranging between 4 and 26 years after removal of the primary tumor. We report a unique case of ectopic recurrence of craniopharyngioma in the cerebellopontine angle, which occurred at only 4 months after surgical resection of the primary tumor. A 24-year-old man underwent resection of a suprasellar craniopharyngioma via a right pterional approach four months earlier. During follow-up, cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a round homogeneous contrast-enhancing tumor in the right cerebellopontine angle with neither relation to the internal auditory canal nor to the dura mater. After microsurgical resection, histopathological findings revealed ectopic recurrence of craniopharyngioma with similar tumors like the primary tumor. Although infrequent, craniopharyngioma may disseminate via the cerebrospinal fluid during surgical resection and grow in an ectopic place. Early follow-up and MRI scan following resection of a craniopharyngioma is recommended. Keywords : Craniopharyngioma, Ectopic recurrence, Cerebellopontine angle
Corresponding author : Bujung HONG, hong.bujung@mh-hannover.de