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Intraventricular Tumors

Home Conditions Intraventricular Tumors

What are Intraventricular Tumors?

Tumors in the ventricles (intraventricular tumors), can sometimes grow large enough to cause blockage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow, resulting in hydrocephalus. Although the initial treatment may be to drain the fluid to alleviate the acute onset symptoms, the more durable treatment is the resection of these tumors.

If these tumors arise from the skull-base, such as craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas or giant pituitary adenomas, then keyhole or endonasal surgery would be the preferred approach. If the tumors arise from the ventricles directly, they can be treated with the BrainPath® neuro-port minimally invasive system. This can allow for maximal safe tumor resection, minimizing the risk to the normal intervening brain.

For certain tumors, particularly of the pineal region, a biopsy may be necessary to achieve a diagnosis.  This can be performed endoscopically at the same time as an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV).

Written and reviewed by:
The Pacific Neuroscience medical and editorial team
We are a highly specialized team of medical professionals with extensive neurological and cranial disorder knowledge, expertise and writing experience.
Last updated: April 6, 2020