Phantosmia and dysgeusia as the first presentation of glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the most common and aggressive primary brain tumor in adults and has an extremely poor prognosis. It is rare for a high-grade glioma, or any brain tumor, to have an initial presentation of gastrointestinal symptoms. We present a rare case of a healthy 70-year-old woman who presented with symptoms of phantosmia and dysgeusia with magnetic resonance imaging findings of a brain mass confirmed via brain biopsy to be glioblastoma. Through a rare presentation, we aim to elucidate the importance of recognizing the association of phantosmia and dysgeusia to seizure auras and the critical need for diagnostic imaging to rule out organic causes such as infection and neoplasms.