Calciphylaxis in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Case Presentation and Review

Abstract

Calciphylaxis is a serious disorder that presents itself as ischemia and ne-crosis of the skin which occurs more frequently in patients with an end-stage chronic kidney disease, but not exclusively. The pathogenesis is a result of the reduction of arteriolar blood flow, caused by calcification, fibrosis, and thrombus formation that primarily involve the arterioles of the dermis and hypodermis, with a poor prognosis. Case presentation: A 44-year-old patient with a previous diagnosis of chronic kidney disease receiving hemodialysis secondary to polycystic kidney disease, with a history of parathyroidectomy due to primary hyperparathyroidism in 2011. In 2014 the patient presented skin lesions, for which a diagnostic biopsy of calciphylaxis was performed and began treatment with sodium thiosulfate with a poor progression and evolution. New histology compatible with the diagnosis of pyoderma gangrenosum and findings of calciphylaxis were performed. The patient begins treatment with corticosteroids and cyclosporine, with poor clinical evolution and the patient eventually passes away. The objective of this manuscript is to understand this pathology better, which is infrequent but with a high rate of morbidity and mortality.