Diffuse intracranial calcification appearing during the follow up of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

An 11 yr old male North African child has been followed up and treated since June 1969 for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. At this time he already had important destructive malignant bone infiltration. Complete medullar remission was obtained less than 2 mth later. He consulted in May 1971 for seizures. The lumbar puncture, eye fundus, cerebral scan and skull Xray were normal. He nevertheless received prophylactic radiotherapy to the head (2,000 rads) and spine (1,000 rads). One yr later (July 1972) he was readmitted for hematologic recurrence and serious bone pain. Skeleton Xray showed still massive bone changes and this time generalized bilateral intracranial calcifications resembling those found in a Sturge Weber syndrome or in a meningo encephalitis. A cerebral biopsy revealed lesions never yet observed by the pathologist and that were neither of an extended Sturge Weber syndrome nor of a meningo encephalitis ossificans.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe