Ann Rehabil Med.  2019 Apr;43(2):230-233. 10.5535/arm.2019.43.2.230.

Fahr's Disease With Intracerebral Hemorrhage at the Uncommon Location: A Case Report

• Jang BH
• Son SW
• Kim CR

• KMID: 2449006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2019.43.2.230

Abstract

Fahr's disease (FD) is a rare neurologic disorder characterized by the symmetric and bilateral intracerebral calcification in a patient. We describe the case of a 65-year-old woman who presented with gait disturbance, abnormal mentality, and visual field defect. The result of a brain computerized tomography showed spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage in the right parieto-occipital area, and also showed the incidence of symmetric and bilateral intracerebral calcification. Moreover, laboratory studies indicated characteristic hypoparathyroidism. This brings us to understand that additionally, one of her sons also presented with similar intracerebral calcification, and was subsequently diagnosed with FD. Thus, her case was consistent with that of a patient experiencing FD. The patient had hypertension, which we now know might have caused the intracerebral hemorrhage. However, this patient's brain lesions were in uncommon locations for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, and the lesions were noted as occurring away from the identified heavily calcified areas. Thus, it seemed that the massive calcification of cerebral vessels in the basal ganglia, the most common site of intracerebral hemorrhage, might have prevented a hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. Eventually, an intracerebral hemorrhage occurred in an uncommon location in the patient's brain.

Keyword

Idiopathic basal ganglia calcification 1; Intracranial hemorrhages

MeSH Terms

Aged
Basal Ganglia
Brain
Cerebral Hemorrhage*
Female
Gait
Humans
Hypertension
Hypoparathyroidism
Incidence
Intracranial Hemorrhage, Hypertensive
Intracranial Hemorrhages
Nervous System Diseases
Visual Fields

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. Computed tomography scan of the patient’s brain shows an intracerebral hemorrhage in the right parietooccipital area, with calcification of bilateral periventricular white matter, thalamus, and cerebellum.

• 

  Fig. 2. Computed tomography scan of the younger son’s brain shows a bilateral basal ganglia, thalamus and cerebellar calcification.

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