What is the psychiatric significance of bilateral basal ganglia mineralization?

One percent (143) of patients who underwent cranial computed tomography at the Central Institute of Mental Health during the last 10 years had bilateral basal ganglia mineralization (BGM). The relationship of this finding to the psychiatric disorders in the group was evaluated by statistical comparison with a group of patients without BGM (control group). The odds ratios for affective disorders and for organic brain syndromes with affective or paranoid symptoms showed a mild, but statistically significant, increase in patients with BGM. There was no evidence of an increased proportion of dementia, schizophrenia, or alcoholism in those with BGM. Those with BGM had a higher mean age and significantly more cortical atrophy and ventricular enlargement than did patients without. These confounding variables contributed to clinical differences between the BGM and the control groups.