[Subcutaneous calcinosis of the leg]

In patients with varicose veins and post-phlebitic patients calcifications are discovered in the legs that are sometimes very extensive. These latent, stable, and silent calcinoses become apparent when there is ulceration or hypodermatitis. They are subcutaneous and supra-aponeurotic but clear of the muscles, tendons, and joints. The signs are evident mainly radiologically. They are the result of a local process of which the etiology is not well understood. These calcinoses may be classified among the dystrophic calcinoses. The precipitating factor seems to be a change in the conjunctive tissue resulting from inflammatory outbreaks of trophic hypodermatitis. The treatment is basically preventive, sometimes with local surgery ; no type of general therapy improves the lesions. Comparison with rheumatism brings to light certain common features : tissue attack as a starting point for calcification, stability of the lesions. Such a comparison distinguishes these calcinoses from the Thibierge Weissenbach syndrome and from chondrocalcinoses.