Brain tumor or stroke

Abstract Sometimes, the clinical presentation of a brain tumour mimics that of stroke or vice versa, as exemplified in the following three patients. In a 73-year-old patient the initial clinical picture was compatible with a brachial plexus lesion, as the weakness in his right hand appeared to have a traumatic, and not a central nervous system related, cause. When he experienced a focal seizure, the CT scan of the brain revealed a lesion in the motor cortex. This was presumed to be an infarction due to the lack of mass effect and the absence of contrast enhancement. Shortly afterwards the patient deteriorated and a follow-up scan revealed a large contrast-enhancing lesion. During surgery this proved to be a glioblastoma multiforme. A 76-year-old man was suffering from a progressive neurological deficit. An MRI scan of the brain revealed a contrast-enhancing lesion and a chest X-ray revealed an asymptomatic lung tumour; the diagnosis 'brain metastasis' was made. The surgeon removed the lung tumour, which proved to be a carcinoma. Later, when the patient was referred to the neurosurgeon for extirpation of the presumed brain metastasis, the MRI scan revealed that the lesion had decreased in size and no longer exhibited contrast enhancement. The metastasis proved to be an infarction. A 53-year-old man presented with sudden loss of consciousness due to a haemorrhage in the occipital lobe. An angiogram did not reveal a vascular malformation and during surgery no abnormal tissue was seen. The patient almost made a complete recovery. However, several months later he developed an elevated intracranial pressure due to a large occipital high-grade glioma, which had caused the original haemorrhage.