Fahr’s disease presenting with thalamic hemorrhage: a case report

Abstract

Background: Fahr’s disease is a rare neurological disorder which is characterized by diffuse intracranial calcification documented in bilateral basal ganglia and dentate nuclei of the cerebellum. In recent years, some acute presentations of Fahr’s disease have been reported. Here we describe a Fahr’s disease patient presenting with thalamic hemorrhage, which has not been reported so far. Case presentation: A 51-year-old man doesn’t have any prior premonitory symptoms and significant family history of neurologic disorder, he presented to our emergency department because of acute left limb numbness. Both brain CT and MRI study exhibited symmetric calcifications in bilateral basal ganglia and bilateral cerebellar dentate nuclei, which was consistent with Fahr’s disease. In addition, the blood investigation provided no criteria to secondary intracranial calcification. After proper clinical medical treatment and sustained physical rehabilitation, the patient’s symptoms relieved and he was discharged from hospital. Conclusion: We describe a case of sporadic Fahr’s disease presenting with thalamic hemorrhage. It is unknown whether the calcification in Fahr’s disease negatively affects intracranial vessels predisposing acute presentation. Therefore, the association between idiopathic basal ganglia calcification and acute cerebrovascular disease is worth special attention and needs further studies. Keywords: Fahr’s disease, thalamic hemorrhage.