Rapid development of basal ganglia calcification.

The pathologic and radiologic appearance of calcification of the corpus striatum is now well recognized. This calcifi cation can be assoc iated with endocrine , congenital / developmental, inflammatory , and anoxic/toxic conditions. Although the assoc iation of the basal ganglia calc ification with these cond itions is well establised, its pathogenesis is poorly understood . We found no specific answer in the literature as to how long it takes for the pathologic basal ganglia calcificat ion to occur. However, we got the impression that it takes at least several months to years. We recently encountered a young patient in whom the basal ganglia calci fication was demonstrated on sequential computed tomography (CT) scans after only 31 days.