Foster–Kennedy syndrome

Foster–Kennedy syndrome (also known as Gowers–Paton–Kennedy syndrome, Kennedy's phenomenon or Kennedy's syndrome) refers to a constellation of findings associated with tumors of the frontal lobe.^[1]

Although Foster–Kennedy syndrome is equated with Kennedy syndrome,^[2] it should not be confused with Kennedy disease, which is named for William R. Kennedy.

Pseudo-Foster–Kennedy syndrome is defined as one-sided optic atrophy with papilledema in the other eye but with the absence of a mass.^[3]

Presentation

The syndrome is defined as the following changes:

• optic atrophy in the ipsilateral eye
• disc edema in the contralateral eye
• central scotoma (loss of vision in the middle of the visual fields) in the ipsilateral eye
• anosmia (loss of smell) ipsilaterally

This syndrome is due to optic nerve compression, olfactory nerve compression, and increased intracranial pressure (ICP) secondary to a mass (such as meningioma or plasmacytoma, usually an olfactory groove meningioma).^[4][5] There are other symptoms present in some cases such as nausea and vomiting, memory loss and emotional lability (i.e., frontal lobe signs).^[5]

History

The syndrome was first extensively noted by Robert Foster Kennedy in 1911, a British neurologist, who spent most of his career working in the United States of America.^[6] However, the first mention of the syndrome came from a William Gowers in 1893. Schultz-Zehden described the symptoms again in 1905. A later description was written by Wilhelm Uhthoff in 1915.^[7]

Treatment and prognosis

The treatment, and therefore prognosis, varies depending upon the underlying tumour.^[5]

References