title: Idiopathic arterial calcification in childhood.
abstract: Idiopathic arterial calcification in infancy is usually fatal with death in early life and diagnosis at post mortem. This report describes a unique, late presentation with hypertension and cardiac failure in a child aged 33 months, found to have widespread arterial calcification at radiological imaging. The calcium-phosphate axis was normal and there was no other demonstrable cause for calcification. Additionally, the histological features of arterial calcification at renal biopsy paralleled the findings in infants with this disorder. The late presentation in this case is unusual and has not been previously reported. Ultrasound and CT are sensitive for calcification, and the disease should be suspected in children presenting with cardiac or respiratory manifestations and features of arterial calcification, where no metabolic cause is established.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Radiology, Red Cross Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. mpfiles@iafrica.com
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Savvas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andronikou
authors.forename: Rustum
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: Mignon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McCulloch
mesh_terms: D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D011859:Radiography; D014463:Ultrasonography