A 51-year-old man with sudden unexpected death.

We report an unusual case of a 51-year-old man who died suddenly and was found to have an intraventricular and subarachnoid hemorrhage secondary to acute hemorrhage within a choroid plexus xanthogranuloma. This is a highly unusual source of bleeding and to our knowledge has not been previously described in the literature. The man was discovered deceased on the bathroom floor of his home and an autopsy was ordered by the county coroner. Examination of the brain showed diffuse subarachnoid blood accumulation over the base of the brain in a symmetric distribution. A large amount of subarachnoid blood was especially noted near the brainstem at the level of the fourth ventricle foramina. Sections of the lateral left ventricle showed acute non-organizing hemorrhage within the ventricle and adjacent choroid plexus. Microscopically, a nodular focus seen grossly in the left lateral ventricle revealed marked chronic xanthogranulomatous inflammation with extensive cholesterol clefts, foreign body reaction, and focal calcifications. A periphery of normal choroid plexus was identified around the nodule. There was evidence of both recent and remote hemorrhage.