The layman’s term “hardening of the arteries” is synonymous with vascular disease and describes the ubiquitous calcification of the intima and media of the vessel wall that occurs in atherosclerosis and aging. Vascular calcification measured and quantified by electron beam computer tomography is a powerful predictor of myocardial infarction, vascular complications such as amputation, and all-ca...

BACKGROUND Disruption of the elastic lamina, as an early indicator of aneurysm formation, and vascular calcification frequently occur together in atherosclerotic lesions of humans. METHODS AND RESULTS We now report evidence of shared genetic basis for disruption of the elastic lamina (medial disruption) and medial calcification in an F(2) mouse intercross between C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ on a hyp...

Vascular calcification is a marker of increased cardiovascular risk. Vitamin K-dependent matrix Gla protein (MGP) is important in inhibiting calcification. Because MGP activation is vitamin K dependent, we performed a cross-sectional study investigating the relationship between the use of vitamin K antagonists and extracoronary vascular calcification. From the Dutch thrombosis services we selec...

Five hundred forty-four unselected patients were examined by a radiologist as to the presence or absence of coronary artery calcification. The overall prevalence of coronary calcification was 20% and there was a definite increase in the prevalence of the finding with increasing age. A comparison of 94 patients with coronary calcification with a matched control group without calcification indica...

Vascular calcification is associated with significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Factors unique to patients with CKD, such as hyperphosphatemia, predispose these patients to early and progressive vascular calcification. Hyperphosphatemia appears to be involved in a number of mechanisms that trigger and advance the progression of vascula...

Calcification is a very common phenomenon in the coronary arteries, which part of atherosclerotic process, and degree calcification can predict clinical outcomes patients at high risk events. Both patterns its distribution are prognostic importance, but relationship artery with plaque instability extremely complex not fully understood. This article devoted to study markers their influence on de...

Hepatic calcification is usually associated with infectious, vascular, or neoplastic processes in the liver. We report the first case of beta-thalassemia major with isolated diffuse hepatic calcification in a 23 year old woman, who had been transfusion-dependent since the age of 6 months. She was referred to our center with a chief complaint of abdominal pain. Computed tomography scan of the ab...

[1] Coral reefs are constructed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Deposition of CaCO3 (calcification) by corals and other reef organisms is controlled by the saturation state of CaCO3 in seawater (W) and sea surface temperature (SST). Previous studies have neglected the effects of ocean warming in predicting future coral reef calcification rates. In this study we take into account both these effect...

Hypoparathyroidism, sensorineural deafness and renal dysplasia (HDR) syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder (1). We herein demonstrate the brain computed tomography (CT) findings of a 31-year-old woman with HDR syndrome caused by a GATA3 heterozygous mutation (2). Her 1-year-old son had renal cystic dysplasia. Brain CT revealed bilateral and symmetrical calcifications in the basal ganglia, ...

Calcification processes are largely unknown in scleractinian corals. In this study, live confocal imaging was used to elucidate the spatiotemporal dynamics of the calcification process in aposymbiotic primary polyps of the coral species Acropora digitifera. The fluorophore calcein was used as a calcium deposition marker and a visible indicator of extracellular fluid distribution at the tissue-s...