Cerebellar mutism: report of two unusual cases and review of the literature

Mutism is not a common condition following cerebellar damage. Mutism following posterior cranial fossa surgery was first reported by Rekate et al. and Yonemasu in 1985. Since then, many case reports of mutism have appeared in the English literature. Very few cases developed mutism following brain stem surgery. Although mutism has been described in patients with head injury, only one case of mutism caused by a cerebellar injury has been reported, to our knowledge. We report on two patients in which the cerebellar mutism following a radical excision of an exophytic brain stem glioma and cerebellar injury developed. We reviewed the relevant literature and discussed the mechanism of cerebellar mutism.