Tumoral calcinosis

Tumoral calcinosis
Hand radiograph showing tumoral calcinosis, PA radiograph of the right hand showing tumoral calcinosis-like metastatic calcification in a patient on dialysis. Dialysis alters calcium phosphate product (>70). Idiopathic tumoral calcinosis is autosomal dominant and is not associated with dialysis. Note the premature arterial calcification which is a clue that this is a renal patient. Vascular calcification contributes to an increase in morbidity.

Tumoral calcinosis is a rare condition in which there is calcium deposition in the soft tissue in periarticular location, around joints, outside the joint capsule. They are frequently (0.5–3%) seen in patients undergoing renal dialysis. Clinically also known as hyperphosphatemic familial tumoral calcinosis (HFTC), is often caused by genetic mutations in genes that regulate phosphate physiology in the body (leading to too much phosphate (hyperphosphatemia)). Best described genes that harbour mutations in humans are FGF-23, Klotho (KL), or GALNT3. A zebrafish animal model with reduced GALNT3 expression also showed HFTC-like phenotype, indicating an evolutionary conserved mechanism that is involved in developing tumoral calcinosis.