[Decubitus calcifications of the soft tissues. Comparison between radiology and echography]

In the past, several obstacles hindered the study of decubitus calcifications in soft tissues--i.e., poor prognosis, difficult patients investigation due to their poor health and, finally, unsufficient information yielded by conventional radiology. However, special radiographic techniques and US (with 7.5 MHz probes) allowed satisfactory results to be obtained. US permits the more accurate definition of the site of calcifications, better demonstration of the calcifications with poor calcium content and optimal depiction of structural changes of the muscular bundles following denervation or edema and of skin trophism changes. US limitations, besides those strictly related to the method itself, are: gross calcifications with large posterior shadowing not allowing the deep layers to be investigated, the need of an extremely qualified operator and of a detailed description and, finally, the fact that the exam is long, difficult and stressful to the operator and painful to the patient. In conclusion, US provides both the surgeon and the clinician with useful information and can thus be employed as a routine test, with the additional advantage of not employing ionizing radiations.