Efficacy and Perioperative Morbidity in the Resection of Recurrent Craniopharyngiomas: A Multi-Institutional Report of the Rapid Registry

Background and Objectives: Craniopharyngiomas are benign parasellar tumors that recur in 20–50% of cases following initial surgical management. To date, there are no large multi-institutional series investigating outcomes in patients undergoing surgery for recurrent craniopharyngiomas. We utilized the multi-institutional Registry of Adenomas of the Pituitary and Related Disorders (RAPID) to analyze outcomes following the surgical treatment of these commonly recurrent tumors. Methods: Clinical, radiographic, surgical, and postoperative variables were analyzed for 483 patients receiving surgery between 2000–2024 for primary or recurrent craniopharyngiomas at US-based academic medical centers comprising the RAPID consortium. Results: 360 (74.5%) patients had primary craniopharyngiomas and 123 (25.5%) had recurrent tumors. Patients in the recurrent cohort were younger at initial diagnosis (48.6 vs 37.2; P adj