Dystrophic calcification

Dystrophic calcification (DC) is the calcification occurring in degenerated or necrotic tissue, as in hyalinized scars, degenerated foci in leiomyomas, and caseous nodules.

This occurs as a reaction to tissue damage,[1] including as a consequence of medical device implantation.

Dystrophic calcification can occur even if the amount of calcium in the blood is not elevated, in contrast to metastatic calcification, which is a consequence of a systemic mineral imbalance, including hypercalcemia and/or hyperphosphatemia, that leads to calcium deposition in healthy tissues.

[2] In dystrophic calcification, basophilic calcium salt deposits aggregate, first in the mitochondria, then progressively throughout the cell.

[citation needed] These calcifications are an indication of previous microscopic cell injury, occurring in areas of cell necrosis when activated phosphatases bind calcium ions to phospholipids in the membrane.

Amyloidosis , dystrophic calcification
Histopathology of dystrophic microcalcifications in ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast, H&E stain. In contrast to an artifact of crowded cells, the calcification characteristically extends outside the focal plane, as the background DCIS is blurred in this focus.
Density-Dependent Colour Scanning Electron Micrograph SEM (DDC-SEM) of cardiovascular calcification, showing in orange calcium phosphate spherical particles (denser material) and, in green, the extracellular matrix (less dense material). [ 3 ]