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International Journal of Legal Medicine
Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine 5/2005

01-09-2005 | Case Report

Sudden unexpected death due to undiagnosed glioblastoma

Report of three cases and review of the literature

Authors: Jakob Matschke, Michael Tsokos

Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine | Issue 5/2005

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Abstract

Although glioblastomas are among the most common primary cerebral neoplasms, sudden death due to these tumors is an uncommon event. Due to the usual rapid increase in intracranial pressure, patients develop symptoms rather early, leading to medical attention in time. A search for cases of sudden unexpected death due to undiagnosed glioblastoma from a total of 14,482 cases from the archives of the Institute of Legal Medicine in Hamburg in the period of 1991–2003 revealed only one such case. Out of a total of 5,432 cases from the Institute of Neuropathology, Hamburg, during the same period, two further cases were found. A comprehensive literature review on cases of sudden death due to primary cerebral neoplasms published so far revealed a total of 83 cases with only ten cases of glioblastoma (12%), whereas 55 of these cases were due to histological benign tumors (66%).
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Metadata
Title
Sudden unexpected death due to undiagnosed glioblastoma
Report of three cases and review of the literature
Authors
Jakob Matschke
Michael Tsokos
Publication date
01-09-2005
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
International Journal of Legal Medicine / Issue 5/2005
Print ISSN: 0937-9827
Electronic ISSN: 1437-1596
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0551-y

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