Craniopharyngiomas with intratumoral hemorrhage--two case reports.

Two cases of craniopharyngioma with intratumoral hemorrhage are reported. A 22-year-old male was admitted with meningitis. Lumbar tapping was performed twice. He subsequently developed reduced visual acuity and field deterioration due to intratumoral hemorrhage from an intra- and suprasellar tumor. He underwent emergency craniotomy and total extirpation of the tumor. A 29-year-old female underwent partial extirpation of an intra- and suprasellar cystic tumor via transsphenoidal surgery. Two months after the first operation, she suffered intratumoral hemorrhage necessitating emergency surgery and subsequent gamma-knife therapy. The histological diagnosis was craniopharyngioma in both cases. Hemorrhage is extremely rare in craniopharyngiomas and difficult to discriminate from that in pituitary adenoma, but both diseases require decompression by clot extirpation.