Low concordance between surgical and radiological assessment of degree of resection and treatment-related hypothalamic damage: results of KRANIOPHARYNGEOM 2007

Background Assessment of presurgical hypothalamic involvement (psHI) and treatment-related hypothalamic damage (trHD) is relevant for the decision on risk-adapted treatment and rehabilitation strategies in craniopharyngioma. Patients and methods 129 surgical reports of childhood-onset craniopharyngioma patients recruited 2007–2014 in KRANIOPHARYNGEOM 2007 were analyzed. Data on psHI were available based on surgeon’s (63%), reference neuroradiologist’s (95%), and local radiologist’s (23%) assessment. The surgical degree of resection (DoR) was assessed by neurosurgeon (95%), reference neuroradiologist (73%), and local radiologist (61%). TrHD was assessed by neurosurgeon (33%), by reference neuroradiologist (95%), and by local radiologist (2%). Neurosurgical center size was categorized based on patient load. Results Surgical assessments on psHI (n = 78), DoR (n = 89) and trHD (n = 42) as documented in surgical reports could be compared with the assessment of respective parameters by reference neuroradiologist. Differences with regard to DoR (p = 0.0001) and trHD (p