Colloid cysts of the third ventricle at post-mortem CT and at autopsy: A report of two cases

Abstract Two cases of sudden death due to colloid cysts of the third ventricle are presented. In the first case, a 45-year-old woman suffered from headache. She went to her general practitioner and was referred to a neurologist. After seeing her doctor she went to bed and the next morning her husband found her dead. In the second case, a 20-year-old man with a medical history of intermittent headaches for 5 years was treated by his general practitioner with a drug for migraine for the past 2 years. After a party, he was brought to the hospital unconscious. Acute computed tomography (CT) scan was interpreted as an aneurism bleeding. He incarcerated and died the next day in hospital. In both cases, post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) revealed a colloid cyst of the third ventricle and hydrocephalus involving the lateral ventricles. These cases demonstrate that fatal cases still occur. Nevertheless, prompt diagnosis CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is essential, since colloid cysts are histologically benign tumors that can be removed safely by neurosurgical intervention. PMCT scanning can immediately reveal the cysts and a concomitant hydrocephalus is usually easier to demonstrate and document at the CT images than at the autopsy.