Hypothalamic hamartoma associated with an arachnoid cyst.

A hypothalamic hamartoma associated with an arachnoid cyst in an 8-year-old boy is reported herein. He presented with precocious puberty, and neuroimaging studies demonstrated a solid mass in the prepontine cistern and a huge arachnoid cyst in the left cranial fossa. The mass appeared isointense to the surrounding cerebral cortex on T1-weighted magnetic resonance images, hyperintense on T2-weighted images, and was not enhanced after administration of Gd-DTPA. The patient underwent a left frontotemporal craniotomy and a cyst-peritoneal shunt was inserted. Histological features of the cyst wall and the mass were characteristic of an arachnoid cyst and hamartoma, respectively. While a hypothalamic hamartoma associated with an arachnoid cyst is rare, such a case may help clarify the geneses of both anomalous lesions.