Epidemiologic characteristics and postoperative complication analysis of patients with craniopharyngioma in China

This study investigated epidemiologic characteristics and analyzed postoperative complications on craniopharyngioma (CP) patients in China with an aim to provide a theoretical basis for the postoperative care of CP patients.

A total of 598 CP patients was divided into two groups based on the age and postoperative complications including visual impairment and endocrine dysregulation. The WISC IV scoring system was used to measure the cognitive functions of the pediatric patients. In addition, patients with two major CP types, the papillary and adamantinomatous CPs, were also compared with regard to postoperative complications.

The Children group had a higher probability of developing severe visual impairment. Moreover, the Children group had a significantly higher occurrence rate of uremia and arginine vasopressin deficiency, thyroid disorder, dysregulated cortisol and growth hormones than the adult group. On the other hand, the mean time to the first recurrence was shorter in patients with the papillary CP than in those with the adamantinomatous CP. After secondary and more surgeries, 22.27% of patients developed amnesia. Patients with the adamantinomatous CP developed amnesia at a higher rate than patients with the papillary CP. Hypopituitarism did not correlate with patient age, gender, and disease duration, but correlated with the follow-up time. Statistically significant differences between the intracranial infection and the duration of surgery, and between intracranial hematoma and hydrocephalus, were observed.

Reduced operative time and enhanced postoperative follow-up can reduce the occurrence of postoperative complications in CP patients.