How much do you know about the clinical manifestations of craniopharyngioma? I believe there are still many people who do not know much about it, and many family members may not know much about it either. Depending on the location of craniopharyngeal tumor, its growth rate, development direction and patient’s age, its clinical manifestations are also different. The common ones are: change of visual field, increase of intracranial pressure, endocrine dysfunction and change of consciousness, etc. 1. Visual field changes. It is not uncommon to have visual field disorder as the first symptom, accounting for about 18% of craniopharyngioma. The change of visual field is caused by the upward development of tumor in the saddle or suprasaddle, which directly presses the visual fiber. In particular, compression of the visual cross-section is more common, resulting in primary optic nerve atrophy, leading to vision loss or even complete blindness. Due to the different compression sites of the visual pathway, the clinical manifestation is different visual field defects, which are mostly irregular, monocular or binocular. If one eye is normal or blind, the other eye shows temporal hemianopia, bilateral temporal hemianopia, isotropic hemianopia, centripetal reduction of visual field in both eyes, or hemianopia in the superior temporal quadrant. In children, it is often difficult to determine the change of visual field because they cannot describe the visual field or are uncooperative during the examination. 2.Increased intracranial pressure. Increased intracranial pressure in craniopharyngioma is mostly seen in children and can be the first symptom, which is also the reason for the patient’s visit. The reason for this is that the tumor is large in size and blocks the circulatory pathway of cerebrospinal fluid. Clinical manifestations include headache, nausea and vomiting, optic nerve papillary edema, diplopia, and neck pain. In children and young adults, there may be cranial suture splitting, cranial enlargement, and “broken pot” sound when tapped. Almost all patients have headache, most of them are the first symptom, and most of them are accompanied by vomiting. The reason for this is that the tumor is large, or grows into the third ventricle and obstructs the interventricular foramen, which causes the fluid in the lateral ventricles and leads to the increase of intracranial pressure. 3.Endocrine disorder. 2/3 of patients with craniopharyngioma have symptoms of endocrine disorder. The symptoms include hypogonadism, water and fat metabolism disorders and growth retardation. In men, hypogonadism is manifested as low libido and impotence. Patients have thin skin, reduced basal metabolism, weakness, shrill voice, and adult beard thinning. In males with adolescent onset, the sexual organs may not develop and secondary sexual characteristics are lacking. In women, menstruation may never occur or may stop. This is mainly due to the disruption of the anterior pituitary gland and impaired gonadotropin secretion. Since the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland are related to fat metabolism, when they are compressed or destroyed by the tumor, the patient will have abnormal fat distribution, resulting in obesity, which is centripetal in nature. Due to the low function of anterior pituitary gland, the secretion of growth hormone is impaired and growth hormone is lacking, which leads to retarded growth and development, manifesting as dwarfism. About 1/3 of the patients present with urolithiasis. Patients have polyhydrosis and polyuria, with a daily urine volume of 3000-4000 ml and low specific gravity. This is caused by the destruction of nerve fibers in the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary gland, resulting in impaired secretion and release of antidiuretic hormone. In addition, some patients may have drowsiness, coma, and hypothermia or hypothermia due to hypothermia. 4. Changes in consciousness. Some patients may have disorders of consciousness, which may appear as indifference or drowsiness, and a few may appear as coma. This may be due to damage to the lower thalamus and compression of the midbrain due to the occurrence of brain herniation. 5. Changes in the optic nerve papillae. Due to the increase of intracranial pressure, the patient will have edema of the optic nerve papilla, which will lead to optic nerve atrophy, vision loss and even blindness over time. If the tumor directly presses the optic nerve, it will produce primary optic nerve atrophy. In some patients, the optic papilla may be normal. The above are the clinical manifestations of craniopharyngioma. Knowing this knowledge can help you better understand craniopharyngioma and better prevent this disease. If you have these symptoms, you should go to the neurosurgery department of a regular hospital to receive regular treatment as soon as possible.