Tumoral calcinosis

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Tumoral calcinosis.” (Ann Dermatol Venereol. 2007 May;134(5):464-7). Authors are Douria L, Ismaili N, Raiss M, et al., from the Service de Dermatologie, CHU Ibn Sina, Rabat, Maroc. Tumoral calcinosis is a rare disease seen in adolescents and young adults and consisting of calcifications in periarticular soft tissue. Mutations in fibroblast growth factor 23 and GalNAc transferase 3 have been identified in the familiar forms of tumoral calcinosis. A 10 year-old boy of light phototype presented multiple calcified periarticular masses since the age of seven years as well as sciatica secondary to nerve compression. Laboratory examinations revealed hyperphosphoraemia. Histology of a cutaneous biopsy sample revealed dermal calcifications. This case of tumoral calcinosis is notable in terms of its sporadic onset in a child of light phototype and by the presence of compression of the external sciatic nerve. The diagnosis was made after ruling out other causes of soft tissue calcification. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.