Unusual presentation of epilepsy of germinoma located in the frontal-lobe: case report and literature review

Abstract

Germinoma is rare in peripheral lobar locations in the brain, with only 10 cases of primary frontal lobe germinoma having been reported in the previous literature. Epilepsy is a rare manifestation of germinomas. We describe an unusual case of a primary frontal germinoma in a 21-year-old man who presented with epilepsy. A presumptive diagnosis of abscess or cystic glioma was made, and then, we performed microsurgery under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) neuronavigation guidance. Postoperative histopathologic examination identified the tumour as a rare germinoma. Subsequently, adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy programmes were adopted in the present case, and there were no recurrence and postoperative seizure symptoms observed in the follow-up 6 months after operation.

KEYWORD:

• Germinoma
• epilepsy
• frontal lobe
• treatment
• differential diagnosis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.