Unexpected death after headache due to a colloid cyst of the third ventricle
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Open Access
Correspondence
Unexpected death after headache due to a colloid cyst of the third ventricle Sameer S Shaktawat*1, Walid D Salman2, Zuhair Twaij2 and Abdul AlDawoud2 Address: 1Department of Cellular Pathology, Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Blackpool, Lancashire, UK and 2Department of Histopathology, Burnley General Hospital, Burnley, Lancashire, UK Email: Sameer S Shaktawat* - [email protected]; Walid D Salman - [email protected]; Zuhair Twaij - [email protected]; Abdul Al-Dawoud - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 25 July 2006 World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2006, 4:47
doi:10.1186/1477-7819-4-47
Received: 17 December 2005 Accepted: 25 July 2006
This article is available from: http://www.wjso.com/content/4/1/47 © 2006 Shaktawat et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract Background: Colloid cysts of the third ventricle are rare benign intracranial non-neoplastic cysts. Headache is the most common symptom. We present a case of sudden death due to colloid cyst in a 17 year old female who had symptoms of intermittent headaches. Case presentation: A 17 year old female presented with intermittent mild headaches for a period of two years. She complained of severe headache in the night and was found unresponsive the next morning. Resuscitation team was called on site but the patient was already dead. At post mortem examination a dilated ventricular system was found with a colloid cyst of the third ventricle. Conclusion: This report highlights the difficulty in the diagnosis and importance of recognizing colloid cyst of the third ventricle which should be in the differential diagnosis of headaches in children and young adults and of hydrocephalus at autopsy
Background Colloid cysts of the third ventricle are a rare cause of headache and sudden death. Approximately three persons per million per year are affected by this entity [1]. We present a case that was only discovered at autopsy, but that on reflection displayed classical clinical features. Colloid cysts may present in various clinical settings ranging from intermittent headaches to non-specific symptoms and uncommonly as sudden deaths. Cases of sudden death due to colloid cysts could be explained by the non-recognition of the symptoms especially if they are mild and non specific. Although classically presenting during the 3rd to 5th decades, rare cases of colloid cysts in children and young individuals have been reported. Magnetic res-
onance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) may be used for a preoperative diagnosis. Although the colloid cyst can show variable signal characteristics, the clinical features with their classical location can be helpful in the early and correct diagnosis of this benign but potentially fatal entity.
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