Progressive idiopathic bilateral striato-pallido-dentate calcinosis (Fahr's disease) in a person with anabolic steroid abuse.
A 33-year-old male black student suddenly died during a basketball game. His previous medical history, including his neurological status, was unremarkable, but he was known to take anabolic steroids for several years. At autopsy, the cause of death was due to a fresh myocardial infarction. On neuropathological examination, there was extensive bilateral symmetrical calcification involving the basal ganglia as well as the dentate nuclei and the white matter of the cerebellum (Fahr's disease). A possible correlation between anabolic steroid-induced hypercalcemia and brain calcification is discussed.
Büttner
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Institute of Legal Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Frauenlobstrasse 7a, D-80337 Munich, Germany. andreas.buettner@rechts.med.uni-muenchen.de
Sachs
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Mall
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G
Tutsch-Bauer
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E
Weis
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S