Scanning electron microscopy, chemical and histologic analysis in human periarthritic shoulder biopsy

In the present study biopsies were analyzed, taken from the left shoulder of a patient who, according to the radiological diagnosis, was suffering from calcific periarthritis. In both optical and electronic microscopy the mineralogical observations showed crystalline aggregations, while the chemical analysis, carried out with an Edax EDS spectrophotometer, confirmed the presence of Ca and P in them, in the ratio typical of biological apatites. The histological observations clearly indicate a change in the metabolism of the tissues present. In the samples observed the damage to the muscular tissues is easily seen while the connective tissue, though apparently less compromised, shows the presence of numerous calcifications whose damage cannot be revealed solely through histologic observations. The authors, linking the structural histologic alterations observed to the presence of hydroxyapatite granules as well as to the patient's painful symptoms, believe all these observations are the result of a chronic process.