Sudden death in children due to intracranial mass lesion

Intracranial causes of sudden and unexpected death in children are uncommon and are usually due to trauma, epilepsy or to catastrophic haemorrhage associated with neoplasms or vascular malformations. We sought to review the presenting symptoms and signs of intracranial mass lesions that led to sudden death to guide clinicians in early identification of these potentially treatable conditions.

All cases of sudden unexpected death attributed to intracranial mass lesion that occurred from 1996 to 2002 at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals, NHS Trust, were reviewed.

During the study period, six children, aged between 10 weeks and 12 years, died suddenly with intracranial mass lesions other than haematomas. All of them were unsuspected of having a neurological disease prior to death. All patients were found to have an intracranial mass lesion. There were colloid cyst (n=2), glioblastoma multiform (n=1), primitive neuro-ectodermal tumour (n=1), pyogenic abscess (n=1) and histologically unverified tumour (n=1). Presenting features included headache and vomiting in four cases, vomiting longer than 1 week in three and lethargy in four cases. Three patients were misdiagnosed with viral illness.

The case series highlights a life-threatening but misleading presentation of intracranial mass lesions. The diagnosis of viral illness should be made cautiously when headache and vomiting occur in the absence of focal complaints. A history of vomiting exceeding a few days duration warrants further investigation. Persistent lethargy should be considered a neurological rather than a non-specific clinical sign.