Metastatic or dystrophic conjunctival calcification in renal failure?
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Updated: Oct 20, 2026

A Semi-Automated and Reproducible Biological-Based Method to Quantify Calcium Deposition In Vitro
Published on: June 2, 2022
N Klaassen-Broekema1, M Landesz, B Krul
1Department of Ophthalmology, AZU, Utrecht State University, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
In renal failure the incidence of pingueculae is significantly higher than in a comparable control group but there is no evidence that the calcific precipitation in renal failure is of a dystrophic nature. The lime salts are not located within the area of elastotic degeneration, a prerequisite for dystrophic degeneration. Moreover there is no association between the magnitude of the conjunctival degeneration and the degree of calcification. This makes it likely that the calcium precipitates represent metastatic calcification even though admittedly support for this assumption is tenuous.
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