MENINGO-CORTICAL CALCIFYING ANGIOMATOSIS AND CELIAC-DISEASE

A woman with ophthalmic migraine was found to have bilateral cerebella r and cerebral calcifications. She progressively developed severe intr acranial hypertension, with swelling of the brain and downward transte ntorial and tonsillar herniation. Because steroid treatment was ineffe ctive, the right occipital pole was resected. Histological study demon strated meningo-cortical calcifying angiomatosis. Within 2 months, bra in swelling and papilledema disappeared. Subtle signs of malabsorption led to the hypothesis of celiac disease, confirmed by jejunal biopsy. Similar cerebral histological findings have been reported in the brai n of two young patients affected by epilepsy and celiac disease. The a ssociation between cerebral calcifications and celiac disease is pecul iar: the pathogenetic relationship is unknown. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.