Microvasculopathy may precede idiopathic cerebral calcifications--case report.

Cerebral and cerebellar calcifications were discovered by computerized tomography (CT) in a man who presented with a dementing illness characterized by progressive memory loss, irritability, and dystonia. He had no known family. Magnetic resonance imaging showed areas of absent signal corresponding to the calcifications and areas of high-intensity signal on the T2-weighted images without counterpart on the CT. These are postulated to be static liquid pools secondary to endothelial membrane incompetence and leakage of plasma-derived fluid.