Children gained more weight than adults after craniopharyngioma surgery
Original title: Postoperative BMI Outcomes in Craniopharyngioma are Associated with Hypothalamic Involvement in Children but not Adults: A Single Institution Endoscopic Endonasal Cohort.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
Doctors looked back at patients who were already treated, so this is an observation and not a new treatment being tested.
The short version
Doctors looked back at 48 surgeries and found that children put on far more weight afterward than adults did.
What was studied. Doctors at one hospital reviewed 48 people who had a craniopharyngioma removed through the nose. There were 33 adults and 15 children, treated between 2007 and 2024. The team tracked body mass index, a number that compares weight to height.
What they found. Body mass index went up by 9% in adults and by 51% in children. In adults, the tumor did not come back in anyone who had all of it removed (0 of 22). It came back in 1 of 7 and in 3 of 4 people whose tumor was not fully removed. In children, weight gain was larger when the tumor involved more of the hypothalamus, a small area deep in the brain that helps control appetite, 31% compared with 56%.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: In adults, taking out the whole tumor was linked to better tumor control in this review, and it did not appear to make weight gain worse. In children, weight went up no matter which treatment was used. Families of children may want to plan ahead for weight and hormone support after surgery, especially when the tumor sits close to the hypothalamus.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean a way to prevent weight gain has been found. It is not a cure, and it is not a promise about how any one person will do. This was a look back at records at a single hospital, not a trial that tests treatments against each other. The group of children was small, so the results are not settled. Follow up differed between the treatment groups, which makes the comparison harder to trust. Talk with your own care team about what fits your situation.
Source: PubMed, July 26, 2026 · Read the original
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