title: Sudden death due to a cystic lesion in the cerebellum.
abstract: A middle-aged female patient with a depressive disorder presented to a mental hospital because of a 2-month worsening history of headache, dizziness, and nausea. The next morning, she was observed to be sleeping, but was then found dead 1h later. Postmortem computed tomography and autopsy revealed a large cyst in the right cerebellar hemisphere, hydrocephalus, and transforaminal herniation. Careful observation revealed an approximately 0.4cm×0.8cm slightly grayish discoloration in the cyst wall that was diagnosed as hemangioblastoma based on its histological features. Finally, we concluded that the cause of death in this case was attributable to the brain stem compression, which was caused by obstructive hydrocephalus secondary to the cystic hemangioblastoma in the cerebellum. The symptoms for 2 months before her death had most likely resulted from increased intracranial pressure. Hemangioblastomas usually appear as nodules in the wall of the cyst, but the tumor in our case looked like just a slightly grayish discoloration. Therefore, cystic lesions in the CNS need to be carefully examined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan. Electronic address: igari@forensic.med.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Igari
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hosoya
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashizaki
authors.affiliation: Course of Radiological Technology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.affiliation: Course of Radiological Technology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawasumi
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyotaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Funayama
mesh_terms: D001933:Brain Stem; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000209:etiology; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D018325:Hemangioblastoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged
keywords: Cerebellar cyst; Hemangioblastoma; Hydrocephalus; Transforaminal herniation