Abstract
Calcific uremic arteriolopathy, historically considered rare, has been reported with
increasing frequency in the last decade (6-9). The syndrome primarily affects
patients with ESRD, commonly secondary to diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular
disease. These patients often have concomitant secondary hyperparathyroidism from
their renal failure, and are either on dialysis or postrenal transplantation. The range
of ages reported is 6 months to 83 years with a mean age of 48 years (8). The prevalence of the syndrome is estimated to be between 1% and 4% of the dialysis population (10,11). Occasionally, patients with predialysis renal insufficiency can also
manifest calciphylaxis (12-16). A small number of cases occurred in patients with
cancer [breast carcinoma (17-19) and leukemia (20)], alcoholic cirrhosis (15), inflammatory bowel disease (21), and primary hyperparathyroidism without renal insufficiency (22).