Psychosis revealing familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification

We describe the case of a 39-year-old woman presenting with auditory hallucinations and delusions responsive to antipsychotic drugs. Computerized tomography scans revealed basal ganglia calcifications in the proband and in her two asymptomatic parents. Extensive etiological clinicobiological assessment allowed us to exclude known causes of brain calcifications and diagnose familial idiopathic basal ganglia calcification (IBGC). Neurological symptoms associated with psychiatric symptoms are common in IBGC. Nevertheless, purely psychiatric presentations, as demonstrated by the present case, are possible. However, a fortuitous association between asymptomatic IBGC and schizophrenia cannot be ruled out. Only brain imaging, followed by an extensive etiological assessment, allows for diagnosis of this rare disorder. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.