title: Intracranial physiological calcifications evaluated with cone beam CT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors: USC Center for Biofilms, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC, University of Southern California, 925 West 34 Street #4110, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. sedghiza@usc.edu
authors: P P
authors: PP
authors: Sedghizadeh
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Nguyen
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Enciso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002831:Choroid Plexus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D019262:Habenula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008022:Ligaments / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010579:Petrous Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013100:Sphenoid Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D055815:Young Adult