calcification
Meaning of calcification: Calcification is the deposit of calcium salts within soft tissue or organs, sometimes a normal effect of aging and sometimes a sign of disease.
Definition of calcification
Calcification is the buildup of calcium salts within soft tissue, blood vessels, or organs that do not normally contain this much calcium. It can happen as part of ordinary aging, following an area of past injury or infection, or as a feature of certain diseases.
Calcification is common in arteries, where it accompanies hardening associated with atherosclerosis, and it can also occur in the kidneys, joints, tendons, and healed areas of infection in the lungs or lymph nodes. In each location it usually reflects a prior or ongoing process rather than causing symptoms of its own.
Calcification is often found incidentally on imaging such as X-ray or CT scan. In the breast, calcifications seen on mammography are classified as macrocalcifications, which are generally coarse and not associated with cancer, or microcalcifications, tiny clustered flecks that sometimes prompt further evaluation because certain patterns can be associated with malignancy.
Used in a sentence
Imaging of the chest revealed calcification within a previously identified lung nodule.
Good to know
Calcification found on imaging is a descriptive finding rather than a diagnosis, and its significance depends heavily on its location and pattern, such as the distinction between coarse and clustered calcifications on a mammogram.
Word origin
Where “calcification” comes from
Formed from Latin calx, calcis, meaning lime or limestone, combined with facere, meaning to make.