Three cases of frontal meningiomas presenting psychiatrically

Abstract

The clinical presentation of three patients with meningiomas at different frontal sites is described. They had been ill for 3, 25, and 43 years before the tumour was demonstrated radiologically. Apathy, incontinence, dementia, and fits were seen in association with middle and superior frontal lesions, and may be mistaken for symptoms of involutional depression or presenile cerebral atrophy. In contrast, excitement and hallucinosis were seen in association with a basal frontal lesion, and may mimic psychotic syndromes like hypomania and schizophrenia, particularly if the tumour encroaches on the third ventricle and adjacent structures. Irreversible loss of myelin and axons in the frontal areas of brain surrounding the tumour may have contributed to the clinical picture of the syndrome shown by these patients.