[An autopsy case of cerebral calcification--with special reference to the morphogenesis of the calcified deposits].

The case was a 51 years old male who died of cervical spinal cord injury. On admission, X-ray disclosed distinct hyperostosis such as ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament, ankylosing spondylitis and callus luxurians of bilateral hip joints. He had no familial history. He normally developed into adult without any mental and neurological abnormalities. In the latter half of the fifth decade, he developed progressive spastic diplegia of his legs. Laboratory studies revealed evident hypocalcaemia (2.3 meq/l). Hormonal examination of the parathyroid gland was not performed. Postmortem examination of the brain (1,400 g) disclosed widely spreading numerous spherical deposits of various sizes stained deeply with hematoxilin. These deposits were positive with PAS, colloidal iron, prussian blue and Kossa's Method for calcium etc. as shown in Table 1. According to their histochemical properties, these deposits were considered to consist of both acid mucopolysaccharides and proteins to which calcium and iron have been bound later. These deposits were predominantly observed in the basal ganglia, dorso-lateral portion of the thalamus and the depth of the cerebellum. The dentate nucleus was mostly spared. To the lesser degree, these deposits were also seen around the capillaries and subadventitial space of the small vessels in the cerebral cortex, cerebral white matter, capsula interna and red nucleus. These deposits were shown to be adjacent to the capillary walls microscopically. Electron microscopy disclosed that many electron dense spherical bodies surrounding capillary were related to the basement membrane of the endothelium or pericyte.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)