Idiopathic disseminated pulmonary ossification.

Abstract

Idiopathic disseminated pulmonary calcification is an unusual condition in which metaplastic bone, occasionally containing marrow, is laid down in the inter-alveolar, interlobular, and subpleural connective tissue and alveoli of the lung. It is rarely diagnosed radiographically but is occasionally an incidental finding at autopsy. Schinz (11) and Salzman (9) each discussed and illustrated this condition, Schinz among others (3, 8, 14) dividing pulmonary ossification into granular and branched forms. The former is found in association with mitral stenosis and is well documented in the radiological literature as pulmonary ossific nodules in mitral valve disease (4–6, 15). The branched or racemose form, referred to in this article as idiopathic disseminated pulmonary ossification, differs etiologically, clinically, and radiographically from the nodular form and consists of spicules of bone arranged in a reticulated pattern, sometimes described as twig- or branch-like. It is found principally but not exclusiv...