Craniopharyngioma differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sujit Routray, M.D. [2]

Overview

Craniopharyngioma must be differentiated from other pituitary masses such as sarcoid, pituitary adenoma, aneurysm, teratoma, tuberculosis, rathke cleft cyst, chordoma, hypothalamic glioma, hamartoma of tuber cinereum, histiocytosis, meningioma and optic nerve glioma.

Differentiating Craniopharyngioma from other Diseases

Craniopharyngioma is a mass in the pituitary region. A simple and popular mnemonic to remember the common pituitary masses that can be confused with craniopharyngioma is SATCHMO.

• S: Sarcoid, sellar tumour (pituitary adenoma)
• A: Aneurysm
• T: Teratoma or tuberculosis (and other granulomatous diseases)
• C: Cleft cyst (Rathke), chordoma
• H: Hypothalamic glioma, hamartoma of tuber cinereum, histiocytosis
• M: Meningioma, metastasis
• O: Optic nerve glioma

General imaging differential considerations include:

• Rathke cleft cyst
  • No solid or enhancing component
  • Calcification is rare
  • Unilocular
  • Majority are completely or mostly intrasellar
• Pituitary macroadenoma (with cystic degeneration or necrosis)
  • Can look very similar
  • Usually has intrasellar epicentre with pituitary fossa enlargement rather than suprasellar epicentre
  • Despite occasional presence of T1 bright cystic regions, calcification in these cases is often absent (whereas most adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas are calcified)
• Intracranial teratoma
  • Presence of fat is helpful, but requires fat saturated sequences or CT to confirm

Craniopharyngioma must be differentiated from other causes of diabetes insipidus.

Type of DI	Subclass	Disease	Defining signs and symptoms	Lab/Imaging findings
Central	Acquired	Histiocytosis	Bone lysis and fracture Purulent otitis media Diabetes insipidus and delayed puberty Maxillary, mandibular, and gingival disease Rash and maculoerythematous skin lesions Scaly, erythematous scalp patches Lung involvement GI bleeding Lymph node enlargement	CD1a and CD45 + Interleukin-17 (ILITA) Skull x-ray of a patient with Langerhan's histiocytosis showing lytic lesions - Case courtesy of Dr Hani Salam, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 9459
		Craniopharyngioma	Headache Endocrine dysfunction Diabetes insipidus Hypothyroidism Adrenal failure Diabetes insipidus (e.g., excessive fluid intake and urination) Growth failure and delayed puberty	Suprasellar calcified cyst on MRI Brain MRI showing suprasellar mass consistent with the diagnosis of craniopharyngioma - Case courtesy of A.Prof Frank Gaillard, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 16812
		Sarcoidosis	Systemic complaints Fever Anorexia Arthralgias Pulmonary complaints Dyspnea on exertion Cough Chest pain, Hemoptysis (rare) Diabetes mellitus	Hypercalcemia Hypercalciuria (noncaseating granulomas) Elevated alkaline phosphatase Serum amyloid A (SAA) ACE levels may be elevated Contrast-enhanced patches in a patient previously diagnosed with lung sarcoidosis - Case courtesy of A.Prof Frank Gaillard, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 10930
	Congenital	Hydrocephalus	Cognitive deterioration Headaches Neck pain Blurred vision Unsteady gait Incontinence such as polyuria	Dilated ventricles on CT and MRI Obstructive hydrocephalus showing dilated lateral ventricles - Case courtesy of Dr Paul Simkin, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 30453
		Wolfram Syndrome (DIDMOAD)	Diabetes Insipidus Diabetes Mellitus Optic Atrophy Deafness	Negative islet cell antibodies Optic atrophy on electroretinogram Deafness on audiogram Atrophy of brain stem on MRI
Nephrogenic	Acquired	Drug-induced (demeclocycline, lithium)	Polyuria Polydipsia Nocturia	Urine osmolality <100 mmol/ Arginine vasopressin level >4.6 pmol/ Little or no response to administration of exogenous arginine vasopressin
		Hypercalcemia	Polyuria Polydipsia Gastrointestinal disturbances Pathological fractures Confusion Palpitations and cardiac arrhythmias	Ca levels greater than 11 meq/L
		Hypokalemia	Polyuria Hyporeflexia Palpitations and cardiac arrhythmias	K levels less than 3meq/L on CBC
		Multiple myeloma	Pathologic bone fractures Bleeding Hypercalcemia leading to polyuria Infection Hyperviscosity Anemia	IgG or IgA spike on serum protein electrophoresis Monoclonal M spike Disordered plasma cell proliferation on bone marrow biopsy Skeletal survey in a patient with multiple myeloma showing multiple lytic lesions - Case courtesy of A.Prof Frank Gaillard, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 7682
		Sickle cell disease	Chronic pain Anemia Aplastic crisis Splenic sequestration Infection Isosthenuria presenting with polyuria	Hemoglobin level is 5-9 g/dL Hematocrit is decreased to 17-29% Peripheral blood smears demonstrate target cells, elongated cells, and characteristic sickle erythrocytes MRI can demonstrate avascular necrosis of the femoral and humeral heads Blood film showing the sickle cells - By Dr Graham Beards - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18421017
Primary polydipsia		Psychogenic	Polyuria Polydipsia Nocturia	Dry mucus membrane History of psychiatric disorders
Gestational diabetes insipidus			Polyuria Polydipsia Nocturia Pregnancy	Dry mucus membranes Pregnancy
Diabetes mellitus			Polyuria Polydipsia Nocturia Weight gain	Elevated blood sugar levels >126 Elevated HbA1c > 6.5

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