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 retrospectiv ely focuses on the patients' history with regard to affective and cogn itive disturbances as well as to the presence of epileptic manifestati ons. Early emotional changes with a sudden onset were common in both p atient groups, especially panic-like anxiety. It is suggested that pat ients with a high-grade glioma may present with affective disturbances with a sudden onset, while such disturbances in patients with low-gra de 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 m alignant brain tumors.