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Learning from errors
CASE REPORT
Why in the age of CT scans and MRIs is a brain tumour mistaken for a psychiatric illness?
  1. Riccardo Caruso1,
  2. Antonio Piro2
  1. 1Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma, Italy
  2. 2Department of Psychiatry, ASL RM2, Roma, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Professor Riccardo Caruso, riccardo.caruso{at}uniroma1.it

Summary

The first author of this paper operated on two patients with brain tumour, who had been undergoing long-term treatment for depression. In the age of CT scans and MRIs, why are there still cases in which a brain neoplasia is mistaken for a psychiatric condition with consequent serious delays in diagnosis? In this article, we have highlighted what in our experience are three noticeable obstacles in achieving the right diagnosis.

  • neurooncology
  • psychiatry
  • mood disorders (including depression)
  • neurosurgery

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2017-220131

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    Footnotes

    • Original reference: None

    • Contributors RC is the main author of the article; on the basis of the observations made by reviewers, RC felt it was necessary to add the viewpoint of a psychiatrist (AP).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.