Sudden, unexpected death in subjects with undiagnosed gliomas.
We report two cases in which a medicolegal autopsy disclosed small and previously undiagnosed gliomas. The first case was a 38-year-old woman who was found dead in bed; her autopsy revealed a 1.3-cm low-grade astrocytoma in the right subthalamic area. The second case involved a 32-year-old man who drowned in shallow water after his canoe capsized. A 0.5-cm oligoden-droglioma of the left temporal lobe and a 0.1-cm ganglionic hamartoma of the hypothalamus were found. In both cases the tumors may, directly or indirectly, have been the underlying cause of death. We emphasize the importance of a thorough neuropathological examination for all cases of sudden unexpected death in which no extracerebral cause of death has been found.
Lindboe
C F
CF
Department of Pathology, Vest-Agder Central Hospital, Kristiansand, Norway.
Svenes
K B
KB
Slørdal
L
L
D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002423:Cause of Death; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D005910:Glioma / Q000473:pathology*; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007027:Hypothalamic Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male