Korean Journal of Legal Medicine  2008;32(2):124-128

Unexpected Sudden Death due to Post-traumatic Apoplexy of Preexisting Pituitary Adenoma; Blunt Force to the Face.

So Hyung PARK 1 ; Hong Il HA ; Hyoung Joong KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Mild blunt force; Pituitary adenoma; Post-traumatic apoplexy; Sudden death

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

Pituitary adenomas are frequent intracranial tumors with generally benign prognosis but acute hemorrhage into tumor with necrosis is a severe complication and can potentially result in fatal outcome, if not diagnosed or treated early. While many precipitating factors have been known, even a mild blunt force shown in this case could play a role in the catastrophic complication of the pituitary adenoma. We report a rare forensic case of post-traumatic apoplexy sustained in a preexisting pituitary adenoma with a mild blunt force to the face.