Meningo-cortical calcifying angiomatosis and celiac disease

Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 1998 Sep;100(3):209-15. doi: 10.1016/s0303-8467(98)00029-8.

Abstract

A woman with ophthalmic migraine was found to have bilateral cerebellar and cerebral calcifications. She progressively developed severe intracranial hypertension, with swelling of the brain and downward transtentorial and tonsillar herniation. Because steroid treatment was ineffective, the right occipital pole was resected. Histological study demonstrated meningo-cortical calcifying angiomatosis. Within 2 months, brain 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 brain of two young patients affected by epilepsy and celiac disease. The association between cerebral calcifications and celiac disease is peculiar; the pathogenetic relationship is unknown.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Angiomatosis / diagnosis*
  • Angiomatosis / etiology
  • Biopsy
  • Brain Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Brain Diseases / etiology
  • Calcinosis / diagnosis*
  • Calcinosis / etiology
  • Celiac Disease / complications
  • Celiac Disease / diagnosis*
  • Cerebral Angiography
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intracranial Hypertension / etiology
  • Intracranial Hypertension / surgery
  • Jejunum / pathology
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Occipital Lobe / pathology
  • Occipital Lobe / surgery
  • Treatment Outcome