• 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 prog...

The chromosome 22q11 deletion syndrome, which is synonymous with DiGeorge syndrome, is a congenital anomaly characterized by abnormal facies, congenital heart defects, hypoparathyroidism with hypocalcemia, and immunodeficiency. Neurological manifestations of the chromosome 22q11 deletion syndrome are variable, and include mental deficiency, speech disturbances, learning difficulties, attention ...

It is unusual for hypoparathyroidism and steatorrhoea to occur together. In steatorrhoea the plasma phosphorus is often low and the serum calcium either low or normal (Salvesen and Bee, 1953). Rarely there is marked elevation of the plasma phosphorus, denoting failure of parathyroid function, and symptoms of severe hypocalcaemia dominate the clinical picture. The cases illustrating this associa...

Commoncauses of magnesium (Mg) deficiency are small bowel diseases, such as chronic bowel disease, or resection of the small bowel. Chronic alcoholism is also an important cause of Mg deficiency. Clinical features and the degree of Mg deficiency appear to vary depending upon the underlying disorder as well as the portion and extensiveness of the small bowel disease. One of the most prominent ma...

Pamidronate is an effective drug used not only in patients with tumor-associated hypercalcemia, but also in normocalcemic patients with metastatic bone disease to relieve pains. We describe a 39-year-old normocalcemic patient with subclinical hypoparathyroidism and bone metastasis due to breast carcinoma. Following parenteral administration of 60 mg pamidronate, the corrected serum level of cal...

Myopathy is a rare manifestation of idiopathic hypoparathyroidism. We report a 48-year-old man with a 6-year history of muscle pain and elevated creatine kinase levels. Laboratory analysis revealed low serum calcium, inappropriately low-normal parathyroid hormone, elevated phosphorus, and normal 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels. The patient was diagnosed with idiopathic hypoparathyroidism and treate...

Cerebral calcification was first described in 1935 by Kasanin and Crank on skull radiographs. With the advent of computed tomography (CT), it became the modality of choice for the detection of cerebral calcification. Cerebral calcification has been associated with many clinical disorders including sporadic and heredofamilial entities. Hypoparathyroidism, an endocrine disorder, is among the most...

Hypoparathyroidism results from insufficient parathyroid hormone (PTH) to maintain normal serum levels of calcium and phosphate. Unlike most endocrine deficiency disorders, the current standard of treatment is not replacement with PTH but supplementation with calcium and vitamin D. Normal physiology cannot be fully restored with calcium and vitamin D, and long-term complications of this treatme...