Heterotopic calcification in an abdominal wound at Caesarean section: a case report and literature review

Heterotopic Ossification Developing in Surgical Incisions of the Abdomen

“…All cases reported resulted from vertical midline abdominal incisions; in complex incisions consisting of both vertical and horizontal components, ossifications have been reported to arise only in the vertical component. 4 Regarding the prevalence of heterotopic ossifications in vertical midline incisions, one explanation is that the ossifications result from injury to the xiphoid process during vertical midline incisions, which liberates bone-forming cells from the perichondrium or periosteum of the xiphoid process into the wound. 1Y4 Although, in our study, heterotopic ossification was most commonly discovered in upper midline incisions, we have noted that it may also develop in lower midline incisions and horizontal incisions, neither of which involves the xiphoid process.…”