Calcification on chest radiographs: the association with age

Seven hundred chest radiographs taken in a general hospital were reviewed, 100 (50 men and 50 women) from each of seven decades (3rd to 9th). Each radiograph was examined to determine the site and extent of calcific changes. Prevalence of costal cartilage calcification increased from 6% in the 3rd decade to 45% in the 9th and was commoner in men. Aortic calcification was absent below age 50 and increased from 4% in the 6th decade to 57% in the 9th. Both these trends were statistically significant. Other sites of calcification were found only in patients aged over 70; these included pleural, pericardial, tracheal, myocardial and diaphragmatic calcification.