silicon and Intellectual-Disability

This report describes, for the first time, an analysis by electron microprobe of concretions in the brain of an individual with striopallidodentate calcification. We also report the unique association of this intracranial syndrome with hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia. An institutionalized male with impaired intellectual function and hidrotic ectodermal dysplasia was known since the age of 3 years to have bilateral radiopaque densities in the region of the basal ganglia on skull roentgenogram. He died at age 29 in congestive heart failure from rheumatic pancarditis. At autopsy, concretions were identified in globus pallidus, caudate nuclei, thalamus, and dentate nuclei. Mineral deposits within the brain, analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis, consisted predominately of calcium and phosphorus. Trace amounts of magnesium, iron, and silicon also were detected.

Topics: Adult; Basal Ganglia; Calcium; Calculi; Cerebellar Nuclei; Ectodermal Dysplasia; Electron Probe Microanalysis; Humans; Intellectual Disability; Iron; Magnesium; Male; Phosphorus; Silicon; Sweat Glands; Syndrome

Topics: Ceramides; Cerebellum; Child, Preschool; Chromatography; Chromatography, Gas; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Esters; Fatty Acids; Fatty Alcohols; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Hydrolases; Infant, Newborn; Intellectual Disability; Joint Diseases; Kidney; Lipidoses; Male; Methanol; Methylation; Pigmentation Disorders; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn; Silicon