Intracranial physiological calcifications evaluated with cone beam CT.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to evaluate cone beam CT (CBCT) scans for the presence of physiological and pathological intracranial calcifications.

METHODS

CBCT scans from male and female patients that met our ascertainment criteria were evaluated retrospectively (n=500) for the presence of either physiological or pathological intracranial calcifications.

RESULTS

Out of the 500 patients evaluated, 176 had evidence of intracranial physiological calcification (35.2% prevalence), and none had evidence of pathological calcification. There was a 3:2 male-to-female ratio and no ethnic predilection; the ages of affected patients ranged from 13 years to 82 years with a mean age of 52 years. The majority of calcifications appeared in the pineal/habenular region (80%), with some also appearing in the choroid plexus region bilaterally (12%), and a smaller subset appearing in the petroclinoid ligament region bilaterally (8%).

CONCLUSIONS

Intracranial physiological calcifications can be a common finding on CBCT scans, whereas pathological intracranial calcifications are rare.