Computed Tomographic Pattern of Physiological Intracranial Calcifications in a City in Central Africa

Abstract

Objective:Intracranial calcifications underlie certain brain diseases which may be de novo or systemic. But calclfications un-connected to pathologies are classified physiological.Aim:To evaluate physiological intracranial calcifications in Douala with establishment of earliest age range of detection.Materials and Methods:Prospective study of brain computed tomograms was done from April to October 2009 using Schumadzu CT Scan machine. Axial, reconstructed and bone window images as well Hounsfield unit measurements were used for final evaluations. Results were analysed with SSPS 3.Results:132 patients with 75 males and 57 females were studied and 163 separate calcifications were identified due to co-existent calcifications. The highest calcification was in choroid plexi, constituiting 56.82% of the studied population. This was followed by pineal gland. Both were commonly co-existent with advancing age. These calcifications were first seen at 10-19years. No type of physiological intracranial calcification was seen below age 10. The least calcification of 0.76% of population was in dentate nucleus.Conclusion:No intra-cranial physiological calcifications started earlier than 9years in Douala, a city in Cameroon, Central Africa.

Physiological Intracranial Calcifications - A Study in Coastal Karnataka

“…In our study pineal calcification was found as early as 10 years. Uduma et al studied intracranial calcifications in central Africa, 8 highest incidence was found 56% in choroid plexus. They used a single slice scanner with 2 and 5 mm thick sections.…”

Falx cerebri Calcifications and Ossifications in CT Scans – A Data Collection on Frequency, Position and Size

“…Only in children, the authors seem to agree on the fact that pathology is the most common cause in case of physiological intracranial calcifications. [19,21] However, in past studies with large sample sizes, the frequency of different diseases was only recorded for the group with FCC. Therefore it could not be compared with the FCC-free group.…”

“…[8,21,24,26,28,30] The predominance of anterior (and medial) distribution of FCC corresponds to the opinion of most authors. [11,13,17,19,24,29,31] Using 178 FCC on medio-sagittal images of x-ray tomography Lanig [24] calculated a 99% probability that the anterior accumulation of FCC in his sample is not random. In contrast to observations made by Tsitouridis [13] considerably more cases of multiple FCC occurrences in one patient were discovered (about half of all patients examined).…”

“…[10][11][12][13][14][15] Concerning the identification of intracranial calcifications, the CT is significantly superior to other imaging methods. [16][17][18][19] Only three CT studies could be found examining FCC frequency. [16,18,19] Unfortunately, the data of these studies are not very specific when it comes to frequency, age-and sex distribution.…”

“…[16][17][18][19] Only three CT studies could be found examining FCC frequency. [16,18,19] Unfortunately, the data of these studies are not very specific when it comes to frequency, age-and sex distribution. The present CT-Study has the following research questions: • How often do FCC and superior sagittal sinus calcifications (SSSC) occur in a diversified sample of patient population?…”