Calcification of Subcutaneous Tissue in a Child (Calcinosis Universalis)

The presence of multiple calcified plaques in the subcutaneous tissue of children is a rare disease process. The few cases studied are so strikingly similar as to constitute a rather definite clinical and pathologic entity. The finding of pathologic calcification in tissues or organs is interesting both from a clinical and from a pathologic point of view. Often, clinically, the occurrence of tumor nodules composed of calcareous material presents a problem of diagnosis, usually not correctly made until roentgenograms have been taken. Pathologically, the presence of lime-salt aggregations is the end-result of a chronic disease process, in which, usually, there are no indications of the initial injury and the subsequent sequence of events. The deposition of calcium salts, associated with previous injury to fat, appears to be fairly well understood. Lee and Adair,1studying traumatic fat necrosis in breast tissue, describe the microscopic details such as the presence of