Intracranial calcification--how much more information can be obtained by MR than CT?

Thirty-four patients known to have intracerebral calcification that had been demonstrated by CT, were also examined by MR to determine which modality would provide more information concerning the underlying pathology. There were seven patients with intra- or extracerebral intracranial calcification without any known cause, seven cavernous haemangiomas, six meningiomas, five oligodendrogliomas, one astrocytoma, one optic nerve glioma, one plexus papilloma, one pinealoma, one histologically unclassified tumour, one healed tuberculous meningitis, one old haematoma, one tuberous sclerosis and one case of basal ganglia calcification due to hypoxia. In 16 cases the two methods were of equal value, in four cases CT was more valuable than MR, but in 14 cases MR provided more information than CT. In cases of tumour calcification, MR was frequently more valuable than CT in demonstrating the tumour and its extent. It was also better in diagnosing vascular malformations and old bleedings. MR provided more information in tuberous sclerosis, but less in inflammatory lesions. MR was better than CT in excluding pathology in cases of isolated calcification.