Sudden Unexpected Death of Epileptic Patient with Dendriform Pulmonary Ossification.

Park, Jong Pil; Min, Byung Woo; Na, Joo Young; Kim, Hye Jeong; Park, Jong Tae; Park, Chang Soo; Kim, Hyung Seok

Case Report

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2011;35(1):53-56.
Published online May 31, 2011.

Sudden Unexpected Death of Epileptic Patient with Dendriform Pulmonary Ossification.

Jong Pil Park, Byung Woo Min, Joo Young Na, Hye Jeong Kim, Jong Tae Park, Chang Soo Park, Hyung Seok Kim

¹Division of Forensic Medicine, The Western District of National Forensic Service, Jangseong, Korea.
²Department of Forensic Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. veritas@jnu.ac.kr
³Department of Pathology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. cspark@jnu.ac.kr

Abstract

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a devastating complication in patient with epilepsy. The mechanism of SUDEP is unclear, but several risk factors are reported and various studies are ongoing. Cerebral cavernous hemangioma (CCH) is a kind of vascular malformation that can cause seizure. Seizure caused by CCH is usually progress to intractable epilepsy. Dendriform pulmonary ossification (DPO) is an uncommon and rarely diagnosed disease during life, and there have been no reports of SUDEP with DPO. We recently experienced an autopsy case of a young woman dying suddenly and unexpectedly, who had suffered from epilepsy caused by CCH and in one of them DPO was identified. Herein we report that case and provide a literature review.

Key Words: SUDEP, cerebral cavernous hemangioma, dendriform pulmonary ossification, autopsy