Tumoral calcinosis presenting as adhesive capsulitis: case report and literature review

✍ Scribed by Alan D. Croock; Richard M. Silver

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 459 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780300416

✦ Synopsis

Tumoral calcinosis (TC) is an uncommon disorder characterized by large calcific soft tissue deposits, usually adjacent to large joints. In the past, the etiology was unclear, but recently, TC has been considered to be an inherited metabolic disorder, characterized by elevated serum phosphorus and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels, normocalcemia, and calcific deposits. However, these features have been shown to vary widely, with formes frustes of TC now being recognized. We report an unusual case of TC, which presented as an adhesive capsulitis, in an elderly North American black woman. The patient's nationality, late age of presentation, aad multiple sites of involvement are uncommon features of TC. The clinicopathologic features and possible etiologies of this rare condition are briefly reviewed.

Case report. The patient, a 76-year-old North American black woman, presented with a 3-month history of left shoulder and arm pain of insidious onset. No previous shoulder or neck trauma was reported. The pain involved the entire shoulder and upper arm circumference, was constant, and caused increased restriction of all shoulder movement to the point that the patient required assistance in dressing and bathing. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug therapy, prescribed by a family physician who had diag-