Intracranial physiological calcifications evaluated with cone beam CT

Objectives: 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. Dentomaxillofacial Radiology (2012) 41, 675-678. doi: 10.1259/dmfr/33077422