Sudden death of a 7-year-old boy due to undiagnosed glioblastoma.
We present a case of sudden death of a 7-year-old boy who at autopsy was found to have an undiagnosed glioblastoma. The boy was asymptomatic until 2 hours before death complaining of a headache and was later found unresponsive in bed. A medicolegal autopsy was notable for a large hemorrhagic mass of the right frontal lobe, which on analysis was diagnostic of a glioblastoma. We feel that this is a unique case for 2 main reasons; high-grade gliomas of the cerebral cortex are rare in the pediatric population, and it is unusual for a large neoplasm to remain asymptomatic until 2 hours prior to death.
Sutton
Jocelyn T
JT
Department of Pathology, University of Virginia Health System, 1215 Lee Street, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0214, USA. jts7c@virginia.edu
Cummings
Peter M E
PM
Ross
Gary W
GW
Lopes
M Beatriz S
MB
D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male