Lindboe C F, Svenes K B, Slørdal L
Department of Pathology, Vest-Agder Central Hospital, Kristiansand, Norway.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1997 Sep;18(3):271-5. doi: 10.1097/00000433-199709000-00008.
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.
