Hypocalcemia, prolonged QT interval and massive brain calcifications in an Iranian Jewish woman with APECED.

• Vol 10 • December 2008 Massive Brain Calcifications in APECED Brain calcifications are not rare in hypoparathyroidism or pseudohypoparathyroidism. Massive brain calcifications were found in brain computed tomography scans performed after an episode of pre-syncope in an Iranian Jewish woman known to have hypoparathyroidism and hypothyroidism. We present the case and briefly discuss recent progress in the understanding of the molecular basis of the inherited disorder APECED (autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy), also termed autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS-1). Since Iranian Jews have a higher incidence of APECED, in Israel the ancestry of patients presenting with hypocalcemia should be investigated.