craniopharyngioma

9.9

A rare noncancerous growth near the pituitary gland at the base of the brain that can affect hormones and vision

noun
/ˌkreɪniəˌfɛrɪnˈdʒiːoʊmə/

Specialized

: craniofaringioma

Doctors diagnosed him with a craniopharyngioma after he experienced persistent headaches.

Examples

The craniopharyngioma located near the pituitary gland required careful surgical intervention.
After undergoing treatment for her craniopharyngioma, she regained her strength and vision.
She is the youngest of three children in a bilingual Korean family and is totally blind as a result of developing a craniopharyngioma tumor when she was 10 months old.

Academic text (2000)
Group IV -- 3 patients with diabetes insipidus due to hypothalamic lesions (1 female with eosinophilic granuloma and 2 males with craniopharyngioma, mean age 47.16 years).

Academic text (1991)

Surface Forms

craniopharyngioma singular

craniopharyngiomas plural

Morphology

craniopharyngioma = cranium + pharynx (opaque) = cranio + pharyngi + oma

Although built from recognizable medical combining forms ('cranio-' and 'pharyngi-') plus the tumor suffix '-oma', the precise medical sense ('tumor near the pituitary') is not derivable by an average learner from these parts.

Etymology

Craniopharyngioma breaks into parts: cranio- 'skull', pharyngi- 'throat', and -oma 'tumor', like in melanoma. So the word names a growth near the base of the skull where early throat-related tissue sits close to the pituitary gland, which is why this tumor is found near the base of the brain.