Generalized soft tissue calcification in children and adolescents with end stage renal failure

Abstract

Sixteen children and adolescents undergoing regular haemodialysis treatment were studied for the occurrence of metastatic calcifications. By the use of diphosphonate bone-scanning, roentgenography of the chest and skull and ocular slit lamp examination, generalized visceral calcification was diagnosed in two patients. No relationship between visceral calcification and biochemical, radiological or histological abnormalities of renal osteodystrophy was found. Our study demonstrates that visceral calcification also occurs in children with chronic renal failure and may be detected by scintigraphy.

Scintigraphy in the clinical evaluation of disorders of mineral and skeletal metabolism in renal failure

“…Uptake of diphosphonates appears to be uncommon in the myocardial region, as it was not reported in the series of patients mentioned above (Sy and Mittal 1975;Conger and Alfrey 1976;Olgaard et al 1976;Velentzas et al 1978;Faubert et al 1980;Drachman et al 1986;Van Diemen-Steenvoorde et al 1986). In a survey of case reports of patients with diffuse uptake in pulmonary calcifications (Choy and Murray 1980), only 5 of the 26 patients studied also showed uptake in the myocardial region, and only 1 of these 5 was a patient on chronic haemodialysis.…”

“…Gastric uptake was also reported by Venkatesh et al (1978) in 2 dialysis patients and by Goldstein et al (1984) in an additional dialysis patient. Van Diemen-Steenvoorde et al (1986) further demonstrated increased gastric uptake in 1 of the 16 patients they studied. Gastric uptake was not reported in any of the other series of patients (Sy and Mittal 1975;Conger and Alfrey 1976;Olgaard et al 1976;De Graaf et al 1979a, b;Faubert et al 1980;Drachman et al 1986).…”