title: [Intracranial calcifications--seizures--celiac disease: a case presentation].
abstract: The Authors report a case of coeliac disease which first appeared in a boy of 4, suffering from a seizure disorder. The bulky mass of fatty faeces led towards gastroenteric investigations (xylose-test, jejunum biopsy). The atrophy of the villi was clearly shown by the biopsy and a coeliac disease was easily diagnosed. The boy was prescribed a coeliac diet and no fits of generalized convulsions occurred during three years follow-up. Yet, while he was given a challenge free-diet, they started to occur. A computerized axial tomography (TAC) carried out when he was eight and another when fifteen, evidenced bilateral, intracranial calcifications, cortical-subcortical, in the blood vessels, symmetrically located in the occipital region. The anticonvulsive therapy, started when he was 4, has never been interrupted. Now A.M. is 21 and still following an anticonvulsive polytherapy. Many tests were performed. The result of folic acid dosage carried out when he was 16, and badly follow a coeliac diet, was less than 2 ng/ml. A modification in the neurological symptomatology was noted during his puberal phase: fits of convulsions changed into daily crises of mind-failures. This feature is still present in his adult age. The case is reported for its clinical characteristics of neurological symptomatology associated with coeliac disease. The iconographical documentation evidences endocranial calcifications frequently connected with coeliac disease.
authors.affiliation: Divisione Pediatria, Ospedale di Chiavari (GE), Italia.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Della Cella
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beluschi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cipollina
mesh_terms: D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications*; D002446:Celiac Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000178:diet therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
vernacular_title: Calcificazioni endocraniche--convulsioni--celiachia: presentazione di un caso.