Neurologically silent brain tumors in psychiatric hospital admissions: three cases and a review.

Three cases are described of patients with brain tumors who presented to a psychiatric hospital with disturbances in behavior or thinking. Neurologic signs and symptoms were absent or minimal in all cases, and psychiatric signs and symptoms were intermittent in two cases. The literature is reviewed and it is noted that tumors cannot be localized definitively by their psychiatric presentation. Further, patients with psychiatric symptoms secondary to brain tumors may respond to treatment with psychotropic medications. One of these cases is the fourth patient reported in the English language literature who meets the criteria for secondary mania due to a brain tumor.