[Pseudoxanthoma elasticum with pulmonary calcification].
A woman born in 1920 had had multifocal, yellowish nodules on her skin since childhood and had been given a diagnosis of pseudoxanthoma elasticum. When she was 59-year-old, a diffuse granular shadow was seen on a chest radiograph. When she was 74-year-old, she presented with dyspnea on exertion. A thoracoscopic lung biopsy was done. Histologic examination of the lung tissue revealed small calcified nodules scattered in the alveolar septa. Pseudoxanthoma elasticum is a systemic, hereditary disorder that usually affects elastic fibers of the skin, eye, and cardiovascular system. It's incidence is quite low: 1 out of 160,000-1,000,000 population. Very few cases of pseudoxanthoma elasticum with pulmonary involvement have been reported, and we know of no previous case in Japan in which pulmonary microcalcification was confirmed histologically.
Yamamoto
N
N
Department of Respiratory Disease, Fujisawa City Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan.
Hasegawa
H
H
Sakamoto
H
H
Numata
H
H
Fukuda
T
T
Komatsu
S
S
Kido
Y
Y
D000368:Aged; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D011561:Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum / Q000150:complications*