Unexpected death in persons with symptomatic epilepsy due to glial brain tumors: a report of two cases and review of the literature

Abstract

Two cases of unexpected death in persons with epileptic seizures due to a brain tumor are presented which encompassed an astrocytoma WHO grade II and an anaplastic astrocytoma WHO grade III. A 35-year-old man was found somnolent and disoriented at home. A computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a tumor of the right frontal lobe suggestive for an oligodendroglioma. During an angiographic examination the patient experienced an epileptic seizure. Some weeks later, the man was found dead in front of his house with a fresh bite mark of the tongue. Neuropathological examination revealed an astrocytoma WHO grade II of the right frontal lobe. A 47-year-old man plunged into a swimming-pool and was found submerged some minutes later. After resuscitation he survived comatous for 8 days but finally died due to severe hypoxic brain damage. He had been operated on a brain tumor of the temporal lobe 1 year before the accident. Neuropathological examination revealed residual tumor tissue at the operation site corresponding to an anaplastic astrocytoma WHO grade III. Although rare, death in persons with epileptic seizures due to brain tumors is an important mechanism of death encountered by the forensic pathologist.