Objective: To explore the clinical feature and surgical treatment of recurrent craniopharyngiomas.
Methods: The imaging features, intraoperative course, and postoperative outcomes of 83 patients with craniopharyngiomas were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: Of the 81 patients that survived, 19 experienced recurrence of the craniopharyngioma 6 to 62 months after the completion of the initial treatment, with recurrence rates of patients with total, subtotal and partial removal being 5.3%, 52.9%, and 100% respectively. Five of the 24 patients aged 6 years or older, who had an incomplete surgical removal, received radiation therapy, and only 1 of them experienced tumor recurrence (20%) whereas as many as 15 of the 19 patients (78.9%) did who did not received it.
Conclusion: Surgery resection should be the primary therapeutic option for patients with recurrent craniopharyngioma and radiation therapy should also be considered but only as adjuvant therapy.