title: Brainstem compression from a trigeminal schwannoma presenting with pathological crying.
abstract: Patients with pathological laughter and crying have episodes of uncontrollable laughter, crying or both. Pathological laughter is a well-described entity secondary to various conditions such as multiple sclerosis, pseudo-bulbar palsy, cerebello-pontine angle tumours, clival chordomas and brainstem gliomas. Pathological crying is rare and there have been no previous reports of brainstem compression causing this entity. We report a patient who presented with pathological crying caused by a trigeminal schwannoma with a tumor-associated cyst indenting the pons. This case report confirms the involvement of the cortico-ponto-cerebellar pathways in the pathogenesis of pathological crying.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Sciences, Christian Medical College, Ida Scudder Road, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632004, India. ivanpaul69@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ivan Paul
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Bhaskar
authors.forename: Ari George
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Chacko
authors.forename: Roy Thomas
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Daniel
mesh_terms: D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003390:Cranial Nerve Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D003448:Crying; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D020433:Trigeminal Nerve Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*