title: Intracranial arteriovenous malformations presenting as sudden unexpected death: a report of 3 cases and review of the literature.
abstract: Intracranial arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are cerebrovascular abnormalities due to maldevelopment of the regional capillary bed, producing lesions with arteriovenous shunting. AVMs may account for as many as 1% of all sudden deaths; however, case reports in the literature are exceedingly rare. We present 3 cases of sudden death due to hemorrhage of AVM and discuss the literature and the differential diagnosis in cases of sudden death due to intracranial hemorrhage.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neuropathology, University Medical Center-Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. matschke@uke.uni-hamburg.de
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matschke
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lockemann
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001165:Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000473:pathology*; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D020300:Intracranial Hemorrhages / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies