MRI findings of hypothalamic hamartoma: report of five cases and review of the literature.

Hypothalamic hamartoma is a relatively rare congenital malformation, associated with the clinical presentation of precocious puberty of central type. Five cases with hypothalamic hamartoma are reported here, with an emphasis on MR appearance. The most common presentation of hypothalamic hamartoma was a small and well defined mass in the inferior aspect of the hypothalamus, showing isointensity on T1 weighted images and hyperintensity on T2 weighted images compared with the gray matter. The previous reports with MRI description are reviewed and compared with the present results.