{"id":6271,"date":"2026-05-27T21:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T01:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=6271"},"modified":"2026-06-04T22:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T02:09:41","slug":"abnormal-calcium-deposition","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/chapter\/abnormal-calcium-deposition\/","title":{"raw":"Section 10 Abnormal Calcium Deposition","rendered":"Section 10 Abnormal Calcium Deposition"},"content":{"raw":"<span class=\"transcription-time-part\" style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\" data-time-start=\"1537.339\" data-time-end=\"1539.71\">Two additional tissue abnormalities involve the <strong>inappropriate deposition of calcium salts<\/strong>:<\/span>\r\n<table class=\"grid landscape\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%;height: 30px\" border=\"0\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 15px\">\r\n<td class=\"border\" style=\"width: 17.9537%;height: 15px\"><span style=\"color: #032c80\"><strong>Dystrophic calcification<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"width: 82.0463%;height: 15px\">Calcium deposits form on <strong>injured or dying tissue<\/strong> - for example, on <strong>atherosclerotic plaques<\/strong> in blood vessels or on tuberculosis lesions (<strong>Ghon foci<\/strong>).\u00a0 The tissue becomes stiffer and less functional.\u00a0 This is the more common form.\u00a0 Example:\u00a0 <strong>calcific aortic stenosis<\/strong> - narrowing of the aorta due to calcium deposits on atherosclerotic plaque, making the vessel wall rigid and obstructing blood flow.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr style=\"height: 15px\">\r\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 17.9537%;height: 15px\"><span style=\"color: #032c80\"><strong>Metastatic calcification<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 82.0463%;height: 15px\">Calcium deposits form on normal tissue.\u00a0 This is much rarer and typically caused by <strong>hypercalcemia<\/strong> (excess calcium in the blood).\u00a0 Tissues commonly affected include the lungs, renal tubules, and blood vessels.\u00a0 The most common cause of hypercalcemia is hyperparathyroidism - a condition in which the parathyroid gland produces too much <strong>parathyroid hormone (PTH)<\/strong>, driving calcium out of the bones and into the blood.\u00a0 <strong>Prolonged immobilization<\/strong> can also cause hypercalcemia.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<p><span class=\"transcription-time-part\" style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\" data-time-start=\"1537.339\" data-time-end=\"1539.71\">Two additional tissue abnormalities involve the <strong>inappropriate deposition of calcium salts<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n<table class=\"grid landscape\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse;width: 100%;height: 30px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr style=\"height: 15px\">\n<td class=\"border\" style=\"width: 17.9537%;height: 15px\"><span style=\"color: #032c80\"><strong>Dystrophic calcification<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 82.0463%;height: 15px\">Calcium deposits form on <strong>injured or dying tissue<\/strong> &#8211; for example, on <strong>atherosclerotic plaques<\/strong> in blood vessels or on tuberculosis lesions (<strong>Ghon foci<\/strong>).\u00a0 The tissue becomes stiffer and less functional.\u00a0 This is the more common form.\u00a0 Example:\u00a0 <strong>calcific aortic stenosis<\/strong> &#8211; narrowing of the aorta due to calcium deposits on atherosclerotic plaque, making the vessel wall rigid and obstructing blood flow.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr style=\"height: 15px\">\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 17.9537%;height: 15px\"><span style=\"color: #032c80\"><strong>Metastatic calcification<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<td class=\"shaded\" style=\"width: 82.0463%;height: 15px\">Calcium deposits form on normal tissue.\u00a0 This is much rarer and typically caused by <strong>hypercalcemia<\/strong> (excess calcium in the blood).\u00a0 Tissues commonly affected include the lungs, renal tubules, and blood vessels.\u00a0 The most common cause of hypercalcemia is hyperparathyroidism &#8211; a condition in which the parathyroid gland produces too much <strong>parathyroid hormone (PTH)<\/strong>, driving calcium out of the bones and into the blood.\u00a0 <strong>Prolonged immobilization<\/strong> can also cause hypercalcemia.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1370,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["zoe-soon"],"pb_section_license":"cc-by-nc-sa"},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[60],"license":[57],"class_list":["post-6271","chapter","type-chapter","status-web-only","hentry","contributor-zoe-soon","license-cc-by-nc-sa"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/6271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1370"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/6271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6642,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/6271\/revisions\/6642"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/6271\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=6271"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/pathophysiology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=6271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}