Craniopharyngiomas Primarily Involving the Hypothalamus: A Model of Neurosurgical Lesions to Elucidate the Neurobiological Basis of Psychiatric Disorders

Objective This study provides a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychiatric disorders caused by craniopharyngiomas and the hypothalamic alterations underlying these symptoms. Methods We investigated a collection of 210 craniopharyngiomas reported from 1823 to 2017 providing detailed clinical and pathologic information about psychiatric disturbances, including 10 of our own series, and compared the hypothalamic damage in this cohort with the present in a control cohort of 105 cases without psychiatric symptoms. Results Psychiatric disorders occurred predominantly in patients with craniopharyngiomas developing primarily at the infundibulotuberal region (45%) or entirely within the third ventricle (30%), mostly affecting adult patients (61%; P P P P P P P Conclusions Craniopharyngiomas primarily involving the hypothalamus represent a neurobiological model of psychiatric and behavioral disorders.