• Priyanthi B Gjerde, Sverre Litleskare, Njål Gjærde Lura, Tone Tangen, Christian A Helland, and Knut Wester.
• Department of Clinical Medicine K1, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; The Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT) and the K.G. Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Department of Clinical Medicine K2, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Dec 1; 132: e645-e653.

BackgroundArachnoid cysts yield cognitive deficits that are normalized after surgical cyst decompression.ObjectiveThe present study aimed to investigate whether arachnoid cysts also affect symptoms of anxiety and depression, and if surgical cyst decompression leads to reduction of these symptoms.MethodsTwenty-two adult patients (13 men and 9 women) with symptomatic temporal or frontal cysts were included in this questionnaire (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS])-based prospective study. The mean time between answering the preoperative questionnaire and surgery was 37 days. The patients answered the same HADS questionnaire 3-6 months postoperatively.ResultsPreoperatively, both patients with frontal (N = 4) and patients with temporal (N = 18) cyst had higher mean HADS anxiety scores than those found in the general population. For patients with temporal cyst, there was a significant or near-significant difference in anxiety and depression scores and the combined scores between those with right-sided cysts and those with left-sided cysts. Postoperatively, the HADS scores normalized and were no longer different from those of the general population. The difference in scores between patients with right and left temporal cyst also disappeared.ConclusionsPatients with arachnoid cyst have higher levels of anxiety and depression than do the general population and these scores were normalized after decompressive cyst surgery. We further found a hemispheric asymmetry: patients with a right temporal cyst showed higher anxiety, depression, and combined scores than did patients with a left temporal cyst. Also, this disparity normalized after cyst decompression. Thus, arachnoid cysts seem to affect not only cognition but also the level of affective symptoms.Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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