Surgical management of recurrent craniopharyngiomas

Recurrence is the most common complication of all forms of treatment of craniopharyngioma. Reoperation is the preferred treatment for unsuspected residual tumor after primary radical resection. Surgical resection can be curative in the majority of recurrences, especially those with solid tumor. Scarring from previous surgery, particularly following primary radical removal, may increase the technical difficulty of surgery. Although most patients will have a reasonable functional outcome, the morbidity following operation for recurrence is greater than primary surgery with some degree of new deficit being common. Adjuvant irradiation, interstitial irradiation or bleomycin, and serial aspiration of cystic tumors have lower cure rates than surgical resection but may have lower morbidity in selected patients. They are potential adjuvant or second-line treatments for subsequent recurrence.