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Updated: May 1, 2026

Calcification of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Imaging of Aortic Calcification and Inflammation
Published on: May 31, 2016
Medial vascular calcification revisited: review and perspectives
Peter Lanzer1, Manfred Boehm2, Victor Sorribas3
1Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Health Care Center Bitterfeld, Bitterfeld-Wolfen gGmbH, Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Straße 2, D-06749 Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany planzer@gzbiwo.de.
None:
Vascular calcifications (VCs) are actively regulated biological processes associated with crystallization of hydroxyapatite in the extracellular matrix and in cells of the media (VCm) or intima (VCi) of the arterial wall. Both patterns of VC often coincide and occur in patients with type II diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and other less frequent disorders; VCs are also typical in senile degeneration. In this article, we review the current state of knowledge about the pathology, molecular biology, and nosology of VCm, expand on potential mechanisms responsible for poor prognosis, and expose some of the directions for future research in this area.
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