A 20-year-old man in mainland China experienced a persistent taste abnormality and unsteady walking. After seeking medical help, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Doctors warn that if two specific symptoms appear, prompt medical investigation is necessary.
According to a social media post from Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, the 20-year-old man began experiencing an unexplained sweet taste on his tongue about a month prior. Subsequently, he developed intermittent numbness on his left side and would occasionally stumble uncontrollably while walking. Initially, he thought it was a minor issue and tried to tough it out. However, he suddenly experienced an unprovoked seizure at school and was rushed to a local hospital emergency room. A brain CT scan performed in the emergency department revealed an abnormality in his skull, highly suspicious of a tumor. He was then transferred to the Neurosurgery Department at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, where a brain MRI confirmed a diagnosis of glioma. A large tumor, approximately 4 cm in diameter, was lurking in the core area of his brain responsible for auditory, language, and even taste integration. Doctors pointed out that the man's condition fully matched the typical characteristics of a young patient with glioma: acute onset, seizure as the first symptom, neurological dysfunction, and no clear family history of tumors.
The man and his family subsequently sought opinions from multiple top neurosurgery centers across the country. The consensus was that surgical resection was the preferred treatment, but the risk was extremely high. Just as the family was sinking into despair, a team led by Dr. Chen Bao-dong, Director of Neurosurgery at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, customized an optimal surgical plan for him using intraoperative awake craniotomy and neuroelectrophysiological monitoring techniques. After several hours of delicate brain surgery, doctors successfully and completely resected the tumor, approximately 4.5 cm in diameter.
The day after surgery, the man was astonished to find that the sweet taste that had plagued him for over a month had completely disappeared. The numbness in his left side had significantly eased, and he could move his limbs freely and talk normally with his family, without any complications such as hemiplegia (paralysis) or aphasia (speech loss). A follow-up CT scan confirmed complete tumor removal with no bleeding – a result better than expected. Currently, he still requires standard radiation and chemotherapy based on pathological findings to minimize the risk of recurrence.
Chen emphasizes that if the following two symptoms appear, prompt brain CT or MRI scans are necessary to rule out an intracranial tumor:
Chen also strongly recommends that individuals over 40 years old undergo regular brain MRI scans to screen for brain lesions early and seize the golden opportunity for treatment.
