Impairments to Body Image in Meningioma of the Parietal-Occipital Area

Abstract

© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Objectives. To study impairments to body image in patients with typical meningioma of the parietal-occipital area before and after surgical treatment. Materials and methods. A total of 23 patients with diagnosis of “typical meningioma of the parietal-occipital area” were studied. A set of neuropsychological tests was used, along with the “Image-I” dissociation method and the “Silhouette” method. Results and conclusions. Derangements to body image were found in patients with meningioma of the parietal-occipital area, these being apparent as disorders of left-right orientation and impairment to the positioning of body parts in space and relative to each other, along with mismatch between objective weight and height values and subjective views of the individuals’ own bodies. After surgery, orientation in the body improved significantly, with clear differentiation of the positions of body parts relative to each other, an appropriate relationship between the positions of the two hands, and error-free right-left orientation. Own-body perceptions became more appropriate in relation to the number of body parts and their sizes, though people’s views on their own body types generally remained inappropriate.