Massive, painful tumoral calcinosis in a long-term hemodialysis patient

In chronic dialysis patients, ectopic, extraosseous calcifications can cause significant morbidity. Uremic tumoral calcinosis is an uncommon and severe complication of dialysis therapy. It is defined as deposition of dense nodular calcium-containing masses surrounding the large joints of the body, generally associated with the presence of high serum calcium-and-phosphorus product. We describe a 69-year-old woman submitted to long-term chronic hemodialysis that developed painful, bilateral hip tumors. Radiographic investigation showed extensive periarticular calcifications, and a bone biopsy was suggestive of adynamic bone disease and contained substantial amounts of aluminum. The lesions were surgically excised, and the histological analysis demonstrated amorphous, calcified material associated with densely collagenized connective tissue.