A 30-year-old male presented with complaints of holocranial headache with transient episodes of blurring of vision for 1 month. His neurological examination was normal. Fundoscopy revealed bilateral florid papilledema.\nHe was investigated with MRI brain, which revealed a hyperintense (T1W and T2W) solid cystic lesion measuring 3 × 2.9 × 3 cm3 in the anterior third ventricle causing hydrocephalus with enhancement on contrast imaging. The solid portion was hypointense on T2W images and was nonenhancing on T1W-Gadolinium contrast images [Figure -]. The imaging differential diagnosis was colloid cyst with inspissated protein contents or craniopharyngioma.\nThe patient underwent right frontal craniotomy, and the lesion was approached through interhemispheric transcallosal interforniceal route as the lesion was large and would have been difficult to excise from transforaminal variation of the transcallosal approach. The lesion was solid cystic located in the third ventricle near the foramen of Monro and contained about 2-3 mL of machine oil like fluid which was drained. The solid part of the lesion was avascular, firm, and grayish black in color which was excised. The capsule was removed completely except for the part which was densely adherent to the floor of the third ventricle. An Ommaya reservoir was kept in the third ventricle for external ventricular drainage []. The external drain was removed on postoperative day 5, and a CT scan was repeated on day 7 to look for the residual blood in the ventricles. There was dilatation of the ventricles with periventricular lucency for which a right ventriculo-peritoneal shunt was performed. There was no residual tumor left in the third ventricle.\nHistopathological examination of excised specimen revealed all the typical diagnostic features of a colloid cyst except for certain parts of the cyst wall where the simple, compressed, ciliated, cuboidal lining lacked a brush border and was sometimes entirely missing. Moreover, the cyst wall was multilayered and thickened by granulomatous tissue which was composed of a potpourri of cells. There was a predominance of epithelioid cells and macrophages, many of which contained refractile material and hemosiderin. Polymorphonuclear leukocytes were diffusely scattered throughout the granuloma, and lymphocytes were seen in focal collections. Foreign body giant cells were not a conspicuous feature. Cholesterol clefts were also noted [Figure -].\nThe patient is under regular follow-up and doing well with no fresh neurological deficits at end of 1 year.
A 47-year-old man, with a history of primary systemic hypertension and anxiety disorder with agoraphobia, was admitted in our department with acute-onset speech impediment and loss of strength in the right side of his body, accompanied by headache, vomiting, and deterioration of his level of consciousness. A Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 8 [E2, V2, M4 (E: Eye response, V: Verbal response; M: Motor response)] and a right-sided hemiplegia were noted during his initial assessment in the emergency room. His arterial blood pressure was found to be 210–140 mmHg. Acute obstructive hydrocephalus due to a rounded hyperdense mass within the third ventricle was revealed on the emergency brain computed tomography (CT), in addition to a moderate size acute hematoma in the left basal ganglia [Figure and ]. The immediate placement of an external ventricular drainage in the frontal horn of the right ventricle allowed controlled evacuation of blood-stained CSF and alleviation of intracranial hypertension (initial value of 32 mmHg). After clinically stabilizing the patient, a presumed diagnosis of a colloid cyst within the third ventricle was made by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) []. The tumoral lesion was completely removed 2 days later through a right far lateral interhemispheric transcallosal approach.[] Pathological analysis of the lesion confirmed the diagnosis of a colloid cyst with vascular congestion and foci of acute bleeding within its wall []. The patient developed postoperative bifrontal pneumocephalus that spontaneously resolved itself over a period of several days. Once the CSF pathways’ permeability was restored, the ventricular drain was removed with favorable evolution. Follow-up MRI study confirmed total resection of the lesion []. Right-sided hemiparesis (3/5) with impaired propioception and a mixed type sensitive and motor disphasia persisted at the latest follow-up assessment 1 year after surgery. Neuropsychological assesment revealed bradipsychia, anosognosia, as well as attention, concentration, and working memory significant deficits.