Early mental changes in patients with astrocytomas with special reference to anxiety and epilepsy

This study of 47 patients with low- and high-grade gliomas retrospectively focuses on the patients' history with regard to affective and cognitive disturbances as well as to the presence of epileptic manifestations. Early emotional changes with a sudden onset were common in both patient groups, especially panic-like anxiety. It is suggested that patients with a high-grade glioma may present with affective disturbances with a sudden onset, while such disturbances in patients with low-grade gliomas could be of epileptiform origin. It is also suggested that the biochemical bases of anxiety and epilepsy in glioma patients could be analyzed to understand underlying biopsychological mechanisms of malignant brain tumors.