Guidelines
for urgent referral of patients with suspected brain tumoursUrgent Referral
- Subacute progressive neurological deficit developing over days to weeks (e.g. weakness, sensory loss, dysphasia, ataxia, )
-
New onset seizures characterised by
one or more of the following:
- focal seizures
- prolonged post-ictal focal deficit (longer than one hour)
- status epilepticus
- associated inter-ictal focal deficit
- Patients with headache, vomiting and papilloedema.
- Cranial nerve palsy (e.g. diplopia, visual failure including optician defined visual field loss, unilateral sensorineural deafness).
Consider urgent referral for
- Patients with non-migrainous headaches of recent onset, present for at least one month, when accompanied by features suggestive of raised intra cranial pressure (e.g. woken by headache; vomiting; drowsiness).
NB. This last guideline is intended to provide the primary care physician with the discretion to decline urgent referral if there are other known features (e.g. depression, somatisation disorder) making a diagnosis of brain tumour very unlikely.
