1988 Volume 28 Issue 6 Pages 604-609
A choroid plexus papilloma (CPP) was discovered in the right lateral ventricle of a 16-month-old girl who presented with signs of increased intracranial pressure following a minor head trauma. The tumor was accompanied by communicating hydrocephalus, which, at surgery, was found not to obstruct the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Electron microscopy revealed the fine structure of the tumor to be essentially that of normal choroid plexus. Although the tumor appeared to have the potential to be highly secretory, there was no evidence of hypersecretion of CSF in our ultrastructural study. Removal of the tumor alone was sufficient to reduce the hydrocephalus after some intervals.
Because the volume of the CPP was two to three times that of normal choroid plexus and the dilated ventricle did not decrease in size immediately after surgery, it appears that communicating hydrocephalus with CPP does not result solely from hypersecretion of CSF by tumor cells. Additional causes may be an increase in the total CSF volume as a function of the tumor bulk and malabsorption of CSF due to a high CSF protein content.
