Surgical treatment of ectopic recurrence of craniopharyngioma. Report of 4 cases.

Local recurrence following radical resection is one of the most common complications of pediatric craniopharyngioma. Only 28 cases of ectopic recurrence of craniopharyngioma have been reported in the literature, and only 13 cases occurred in patients originally treated as children. In this consecutive series of 86 children who underwent radical resection of primary and recurrent craniopharyngiomas, 4 patients (4.7%) experienced ectopic tumor recurrence, accounting for 27% of all recurrences after gross-total resection. The authors report on the successful surgical treatment of these 4 patients and the impact of ectopic craniopharyngioma recurrence on survival.