Surgeons removed a rare brain tumor using a small camera through the brain's fluid spaces
Original title: Total Endoscopic Transventricular Resection of a Purely Intraventricular Solid Papillary Craniopharyngioma: A Rare Case Report.
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.
This is a report on one person who had the surgery, not a study comparing it to other options.
The short version
Doctors took out a rare tumor deep inside the brain using a thin camera and small tools, and the patient did well.
What was studied. This is a report on one patient. She was a 38 year old woman with headache and swelling at the back of her eyes. Doctors used a small camera passed into the fluid spaces of the brain to remove her tumor.
What they found. A brain MRI showed a mass near a small opening in the brain called the foramen of Monro. It reached into the third ventricle, one of the fluid spaces. Lab tests on the tissue confirmed it was a papillary craniopharyngioma. The whole tumor was removed, and she recovered without significant nerve or brain problems.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: For a few people with this rare tumor in this exact spot, a camera based operation may be an option. It can avoid a larger opening in the skull. Whether it fits you depends on where your tumor sits and what your surgical team offers.
What it doesn't mean: This is one patient, not a study. One good result does not tell us how often this works or how safe it is for other people. These tumors in this location are rare, and this approach was picked for selected cases only. It is not a cure, and it does not change what most people with a brain tumor are offered today.
Source: PubMed, March 25, 2026 · Read the original
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