Death by Subdural Hematoma with Metastatic Carcinoma of Unknown Origin: An Autopsy Case Report

Hyun Jung Lee; Kyung Bin Kim; Jong Hyeok Park; Hongil Ha

doi:10.7580/kjlm.2014.38.2.83

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Lee, Kim, Park, and Ha: Death by Subdural Hematoma with Metastatic Carcinoma of Unknown Origin: An Autopsy Case Report

Case Report

Korean J Leg Med 2014;38(2):83-87.

Published online: 17 January 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2014.38.2.83

Death by Subdural Hematoma with Metastatic Carcinoma of Unknown Origin: An Autopsy Case Report

Hyun Jung Lee¹, Kyung Bin Kim², Jong Hyeok Park³, Hongil Ha³

¹Department of Pathology, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan, Korea

²Department of Pathology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam, Korea

³Division of Forensic Medicine, Busan Institute, National Forensic Service, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam, Korea

Corresponding Author : Hongil Ha 50 Geumoh-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si, Gyoungsangnam-do, 626-742, Korea. TEL : +82-55-380-4050 FAX : +82-55-380-4060 E-mail : sanchee@korea.kr

Received 26 April 2014 Revised 13 May 2014 Accepted 13 May 2014

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Dural metastasis associated with chronic subdural hematoma is very rare in patients with malignant neoplasms; it may be difficult to distinguish malignant neoplasms from chronic subdural hematoma. Chronic subdural hematoma is usually a late manifestation of malignant tumors, which contributes to the severity of the prognosis. The scans obtained by using magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography may be misleading when a subdural hematoma masks the underlying tumor. Herein, we report a case of a subdural hematoma with dural metastasis of unknown origin in a 45-year-old woman; however, the neoplasm was not detected until autopsy.

Keywords: Key Words, Chronic subdural hematoma, Metastasis, Adenocarcinoma, Autopsy

REFERENCES

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Fig. 1.

There was a small amount of mixed fresh and chronic hemorrhages in the subdural spaces of both sides (a). The underlying hemisphere was slightly edematous (b). Both lungs showed diffuse pneumonia patterns with occasional tiny nodules in all the lobes (c). The liver showed two hemorrhagic nodules. 3.0 × 2.0 cm in size in right lobe and 1.5 × 1.5 cm size in left lobe (d).

Fig. 2.

There were multiple foci of metastatic adenocarcinoma in the dura mater (a, H&E, × 200), lung (b, H&E, × 100) and liver (c, H&E, × 100).

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