Familial fatal and near-fatal third ventricle colloid cysts

Background: Despite having a presumed congenital origin, familial cases of colloid cysts have been reported only rarely. The first case of a brother and sister with colloid cysts is reported here, and the relevant literature is reviewed. Methods: A 25-year-old man presented with a 24-h history of headache and vomiting. He rapidly became unconscious and fulfilled the criteria for brain death on arrival at hospital. No surgical intervention was performed. Results: The patient's sister presented at the age of 41 with headaches and rapidly became unconscious. The sister had urgent bilateral ventriculostomies, followed by transcallosal removal of a colloid cyst. Conclusions: These cases support the hypothesis that colloid cysts are congenital lesions and provide some evidence of a possible genetic predisposition to their formation. Sudden death remains a real risk for patients harbouring a colloid cyst.