Bilateral Dystrophic Calcinosis Circumscripta in a Cynomolgus Macaque (Macaca fascicularis)

Abstract

The authors describe a case in which well-circumscribed, expansile, and nonencapsulated nodular masses with missing digits were detected on the right and left feet in a 6-year-old female cynomolgus macaque from a routine toxicology study. Grossly, these masses were composed of variably sized and firm nodules containing white, chalklike material in the subcutaneous tissue on cross section. Microscopically, the nodules were composed of irregular lobules containing amorphous to granular, light to dark basophilic material that was surrounded by macrophages and multinucleated giant cells and separated by fibrous connective tissue. The nodule's contents were von Kossa and Alizarin red S positive. Serum calcium and phosphorus levels of this monkey were within normal ranges. Based on the gross pathology, histopathology, serum chemistry, and histochemistry, a diagnosis of dystrophic calcinosis circumscripta was made. Dystrophic calcinosis circumscripta is an uncommon syndrome of mineralization that occurs following tissue damage, without abnormalities in calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, and it is characterized by deposition of calcium salts in soft tissues. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of dystrophic calcinosis circumscripta in a cynomolgus macaque.

Tumoral Calcinosis Form of Hydroxyapatite Deposition Disease in Related Red-Bellied Short-Necked Turtles, Emydura subglobosa

“…7,11,22,23 Bilateral multicentric calcinosis circumscripta lesions were described in the feet of a cynomolgus macaque and attributed to prior tissue damage. 15 Finally, the secondary form of tumoral calcinosis is associated with other diseases, such as renal failure, primary hyperparathyroidism, hypervitaminosis D, connective tissue disorders, and diseases causing bone lysis (eg, infection or neoplasia). 4,11,21 The mineralization associated with these diseases can therefore be metastatic or dystrophic.…”

International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria (INHAND): Non-proliferative and Proliferative Lesions of the Non-human Primate (<i>M. fascicularis</i>)

“…In nonhuman primates, calcinosis circumscripta has been reported in two female rhesus macaques 241 . Idiopathic calcinosis circumscripta has been described in two cynomolgus monkeys 242 and in one female cynomolgus macaque from a 39-week oral toxicity study 243 . The descriptive term “mineralization” should be used rather than the syndrome term.…”