Saving a man with a rare craniopharyngioma

SGGPO August 1, 2023 1:38 PM

Craniopharyngioma is a rare brain tumor accounting for 5% - 10% of brain tumors in children and 1% - 4% of brain tumors in adults, most commonly occurring in people aged 50 - 70 years.

Craniopharyngioma in the patient's brain

On August 1, Saigon South International General Hospital announced that it had successfully performed surgery to remove the entire rare craniopharyngioma tumor from a 50-year-old patient with TKT. The patient came to the clinic with a headache and blurred vision.

Suspecting that the optic nerve was damaged, the patient was ordered to have an MRI of the brain and blood vessels. The diagnosis showed that the patient had a craniopharyngioma compressing the optic nerve. Assessing that Mr. T.'s disease progression was likely to result in gradual loss of vision leading to blindness, the hospital team decided to perform surgery to remove the tumor.

After a 5-hour surgery, with the support of a microscope that magnified the tumor 25 times, the surgical team was able to completely remove the patient's craniopharyngioma, including the solid and cystic parts.

7 days after surgery, the patient was discharged from the hospital in stable health condition, no more headache, and improved vision.

According to MSc.-BSCKII. Do Anh Vu, Department of Neurosurgery - Spine, Nam Sai Gon International General Hospital, craniopharyngioma is a rare type of brain tumor, with a rate of 5% - 10% of brain tumors in children and 1% - 4% of brain tumors in adults, most commonly found in people aged 50 - 70 years old. Craniopharyngioma is located in the location of many important structures of the brain, so it can cause severe symptoms and sequelae for the patient if not detected and treated promptly.

“Headache, insomnia, balance disorders, blurred vision, drooping eyelids… are signs of abnormalities in the cranial nerves, sometimes the disease progresses very quickly causing dangerous complications for the patient. Therefore, patients need to go to medical facilities for examination as soon as abnormal health signs appear,” Dr. Do Anh Vu emphasized.

Source