Iraqi Journal of Medical Sciences 124 Incidental Intracranial Tumor: A Case Report Mutaz Abdul Majeed Al-Qazzaz FICMS. Abstract This is a case report of 30 years lady referred by the investigation authority to the medico-legal institute in Baghdad as a car accident victim for postmortem examination. A prior autopsy history with her relatives was negative. During autopsy a large intracranial tumor was discovered at the base of the brain. Histopathological examination revealed the diagnosis of meningioma. Keywords: Intracranial tumor, meningioma, autopsy, brain tumor. IRAQI J MED SCI, 2009; VOL.7 (2):124-128 Introduction Tumors of the CNS have a unique characterstics that other neoplasms else where in the body don’t posses. The distinction between benign and malignant types are less evident with limited regain of neurological functions after surgical resection as well as their fatal capability depends on anatomical site irrespective of histological type (1) . Glioblastoma multiformi is the most common malignant adult brain neoplasm, occurs most frequently in the 5 th and 6 th decade of life (2) . Meningiomas are the most common benign primary brain tumor discovered incidentally more frequently in elderly persons (3, 4). They comprise 20% of all intracranial tumors in adults (5) . They arise from the meningiothelial cells of the arachnoid and vary in their size from a pinhead to the size of a man' fist depending on their location, type of growth and growth rate (mostly slowly growing tumors) (6) . Meningiomas are occasionally discovered as incidental findings on CT scan or MRI (7) . Dept. Pathology and Forensic Medicine, college of Medicine Al-Nahrain University. Adress Correspondence to: Dr. Mutaz A.Al- Qazzaz. E-mail: alqazzazmutaz58@yahoo.com Received: 5 th January 2009, Accepted: 6 th May 2009. Most meningiomas remain asymptomatic throughout life which explains why 50% of all meningiomas are discovered at autopsy (8) . They are commonly seen in individuals between 3 rd and and 6 th decade of life with female to male ratio 2:1 (2) . Most common sites of involvement include parasagittal aspect of the brain convexity, dura over the lateral convexity (1) and wing of the sphenoid (9) . Symptoms of the tumors depend on their location, type and rate of growth. They can be highly fatal if they are very large or causing increased intracranial pressure, sever cerebral edema or herniation (2) . Sometimes they can reach an enormous size while producing minimal symptoms especially in the frontal lobe (5) . Objective of this case study To draw the attention for the presence of some silent and sometimes serious brain pathology and the importance of full investigation even in minimal symptoms. Case Study This is a case report of a 30 years old single female brought by the police to the medico-legal institute in Baghdad as a car accident victim. Information regarding the circumstances of her death was gained from the police report as well as from