Radical surgery in a neonate with craniopharyngioma. report of a case.

Ultrasonography revealed a suprasellar tumor in a fetus at 28 weeks of gestation. The male newborn, delivered 10 weeks later, was operated at the age of 17 days, and a craniopharyngioma was completely removed. Intraoperatively, inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone occurred and was followed by diabetes insipidus causing imbalance of fluid and electrolytes. The tumor recurred and was totally removed 1 year later. Further development was uneventful and, at the age of 8 years, the boy is in generally good mental and physical condition except for a left-sided hemiparesis. In contrast to the poor outcome of neonatal craniopharyngioma reviewed in the literature, this case may encourage radical surgery even in the very young. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.