Abstract
Brain calcifications may be present in a wide range of neuropsychiatric, infectious traumatic, neoplastic and endocrine conditions, associated with motor and cognitive symptoms. They are often considered "physiologic" or pathologic.OBJECTIVETo determine the prevalence of brain calcifications in a Brazilian cohort.METHODS1898 consecutive patients underwent skull CTs, comprising 836 men and 1062 women.RESULTSAmong all 1898 patients, 333 (197 women and 136 men) presented with brain calcifications, representing an overall prevalence of 17.54%. The prevalence in the female group was 18.54% versus 16.26% in the male group.CONCLUSIONSA growth in incidental findings on CT scans are likely as these exams become more widely available. However, a current debate between radiologists and regulators is set to redefine the CT usage, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, considering new norms for use and radiation dosage per exam.
Highlights
Brain calcifications may be present in a wide range of neuropsychiatric, infectious and endocrine conditions, associated with motor and cognitive symptoms.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9].These BCs are often considered “physiologic” or pathologic
Intracranial physiological calcifications are disconected of a demonstrable pathological cause and, especially in older subjects, are represented mainly by pineal gland, habenula and choroid plexus calcinosis
A total of 332 exams were collected at the Clinical Hospital of the Federal University of Pernambuco (HC-UFPE) and 1566 at the Instituto de Medicina Integral de Pernambuco (IMIP)
Summary
Brain calcifications may be present in a wide range of neuropsychiatric, infectious and endocrine conditions, associated with motor and cognitive symptoms.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9] These BCs are often considered “physiologic” or pathologic. Intracranial physiological calcifications are disconected of a demonstrable pathological cause and, especially in older subjects, are represented mainly by pineal gland, habenula and choroid plexus calcinosis Other sites such as the vasculature or parenchyma are more often found in the context of clinical manifestations such as parkinsonism, dementia, psychosis and mood disorders.[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11].
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