Calcification (calcium Deposits): Types And What Does It Mean?

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What is calcification?

a person about to have a imaging scan to detect calcification — FS Productions/ GettyImages

The bones and teeth store the greatest amounts of calcium in the body. People also have calcium in their bloodstream, but this accounts for only 1% of the body’s total calcium content.

Over time, calcium deposits can form in the:

arteries
pericardium
kidneys
tendons
joints
brain
breasts
shoulders
teeth
pancreas

Small calcium deposits are not likely to alter bodily functions. However, if the deposits become very large, they may interfere with organ function or cause other health issues.

Depending on the location, calcification can indicate:

injury
inflammation
tissue repair
infection
cancer

Each type of calcification has its own characteristics, management, and treatment, depending on where in the body it occurs and what the cause is.

The sections below describe the types in more detail.

Artery calcification

Artery calcification can start at a young age, but a doctor may only notice it once the deposit is large enough to appear on imaging scans. Detectable artery calcification typically occurs in adults over 40.

Artery calcification can worsen with age. Researchers suggest that 90% of men and 67% of women older than 70 have coronary artery calcification.

People with coronary artery disease can have calcification of the blood vessels. This disease develops when the blood vessels that supply oxygen and blood to the heart become blocked or narrowed.

Symptoms

Artery calcification has no typical symptoms. However, locating it can help a doctor predict the person’s risk of complications.

Causes

The following factors may increase a person’s risk of developing coronary artery calcification:

metabolic syndrome
high cholesterol
tobacco use
high blood pressure
chronic kidney disease
high baseline C-reactive protein levels

Treatment

Treatment tends to involve addressing the risk of complications.

When a person has calcium deposits in the arteries that supply blood to the heart, it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, for example. This calcification can affect:

how well the blood flows through the heart
how the arteries contract and dilate to alter the flow of blood
how well the arteries react to changes in blood flow

Pericardial calcification

A thick, calcified lining can replace the normal lining of the heart, which is called the pericardium. The new lining makes it difficult for the lower chambers of the heart to fill with blood.

Symptoms

The symptoms of pericardial calcification can be similar to those of heart failure. They include:

fatigue
shortness of breath during physical exertion
shortness of breath when lying down
shortness of breath that improves when leaning forward, as this increases the space between the pericardium and the heart, so the heart can fill with blood more easily

That said, in some people, pericardial calcification may not cause any symptoms.

Causes

One of the main causes of pericardial calcification is pericarditis, which is inflammation within the pericardium. The cause is often unknown, but it can stem from major heart surgery or a viral infection in the pericardium.

Some other causes of pericardial calcification include:

trauma
radiation therapy
connective tissue disease
malignancy

Treatment

If there are no symptoms of pericardial calcification, a person is not likely to need treatment.

If there is also inflammation in the area, the doctor may recommend anti-inflammatories, such as colchicine, corticosteroids, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

A surgical procedure called a pericardiectomy may cure pericardial calcification. It involves removing a portion of the pericardium.

Kidney calcification

Calcium deposits can also form in the kidneys. This is called nephrocalcinosis. People with this may also have high levels of calcium or phosphate in their blood or urine.

Doctors classify nephrocalcinosis as molecular, microscopic, or macroscopic. The classification depends on the size of the calcium deposit and whether it is visible on an X-ray or microscope.

A doctor typically finds calcium deposits in the renal medulla of the kidney, which is the inner part.

Symptoms

Many people with kidney calcification have no symptoms of it.

Once a doctor notices calcium buildup on an X-ray, they check the person’s blood and urine for:

electrolytes
calcium
phosphate

Causes

High levels of the following could cause nephrocalcinosis:

calcium in the blood or urine
phosphate in the blood or urine
oxalate in the urine

These issues can develop due to:

primary hyperparathyroidism, which involves the parathyroid glands creating too much hormone
vitamin D therapy
sarcoidosis
chronically low potassium levels in the blood

Treatment

When a doctor diagnoses kidney calcification, they need to determine the cause.

Kidney calcification can stem from vitamin D therapy, primary hyperparathyroidism, or sarcoidosis, among other conditions. The treatment depends on the cause.

Without treatment, some causes of nephrocalcinosis can lead to chronic kidney disease. Like coronary artery calcification, treating kidney calcification involves treating the underlying cause and addressing the risk factors.

Joint and tendon calcification

Radiologists frequently find calcification in a person’s joints and tendons. However, they may find it difficult to tell calcification from ossification or the presence of a foreign body.

Joint and tendon calcification are both relatively common. For example, about 3–15% of people have calcification of a tendon, which is called calcific tendonitis. And research suggests that around 45% of people aged 85 or over have calcium deposits in the cartilage of their joints.

Symptoms

People with calcific tendonitis may sometimes feel a “pinching” in the calcified tendon. The condition can also cause significant pain or no symptoms at all.

Calcification most often affects tendons in the shoulder, but tendons in the wrist, hip, and elbow are also susceptible.

Causes

Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal disease (CPPD), previously known as pseudogout, is often the cause of joint calcification.

CPPD is not gout, but the pain is similar, which is why people used to call it pseudogout.

Treatment

People with painless joint or tendon calcification typically do not need treatment.

No treatments can remove calcium deposits from the cartilage of the joints, so doctors tend to rely on glucocorticoid injections, oral colchicine, and NSAIDs to relieve any pain and underlying inflammation.

Surgery may be necessary for some people with this condition.

Brain calcification

Abnormal calcium deposits can form in the blood vessels of the brain. These deposits typically form in the basal ganglia, structures that initiate and control bodily movement.

These calcium deposits are visible using imaging scans.

Symptoms

The symptoms usually start to appear in mid-adulthood and they worsen over time. A person may experience:

dystonia, or involuntary tensing of the muscles
uncontrollable movements
an unsteady walk
slowness of movement
tremor

Primary familial brain calcification is calcification that does not stem from another health issue and passes down through families. Around 20–30% of people with this also experience:

dementia
psychosis
memory loss
personality changes
difficulty concentrating
seizures
impaired speech

Causes

The cause of primary familial brain calcification is genetic mutation. A person inherits it, but in about 50% of cases, the exact genetic cause is unknown.

Due to mutations of certain genes, calcium deposits form in the affected blood vessels of the brain and brain cells. These calcium deposits then disrupt nerve signal connections between different areas of the brain.

Treatment

The treatments focus on addressing and relieving the symptoms because the calcification itself is irreversible.

One common symptom of brain calcification is dystonia. Some treatment options for this include:

physical therapy
speech and voice therapy
relaxation and stress management
deep brain stimulation via an implanted device
oral medications, such as benzodiazepines or anticholinergics
injected medications
surgery, if the symptoms do not respond to other treatments

Breast calcification

Only a mammogram can detect breast calcification.

Doctors classify it based on the size of the calcium deposit or deposits. Macrocalcifications are large, well-defined deposits, and they are not usually a sign of cancer. Microcalcifications appear as small specks on scans. These are also not usually a cause for concern. However, having deposits of varyious shapes and sizes clumped together in an area of rapidly multiplying cells may be a sign of cancer.

Symptoms

Most breast calcifications cause no symptoms.

Causes

Breast calcification has no link to dietary calcium. It is a marker of an underlying process within the tissue.

Advancing age leads to a higher likelihood of noncancerous breast cell changes. These can leave behind calcium deposits.

Some benign processes that can lead to breast calcification are:

secretion of calcium into milk ducts
injuries or infections within the breast
noncancerous growths in the breast
breast cysts
past radiation therapy involving the breast
atherosclerosis of the blood vessels in the breast

Treatment

Although most breast calcifications are noncancerous, doctors must investigate the tissue to confirm this. Calcium deposits may result from ductal carcinoma in situ, an early stage and type of cancer that develops inside the milk ducts.

People with invasive ductal carcinoma may also have breast calcification. This type of cancer spreads from the milk duct into surrounding breast tissue.

If a radiologist finds breast calcifications on a person’s mammogram, they compare this imaging with any prior mammograms. They may then do other tests to determine the origins and cause of the calcification. This could involve magnification mammography, ultrasound imaging, an MRI scan, or a biopsy.

Treatment for breast calcification depends on the type. If the calcification stems from cancer, the treatment may involve surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy.

Find more detailed information about breast calcification here.

Shoulder calcification

Sometimes, calcification can cause pain in the shoulder area. Doctors may call this calcific tendinitis of the rotator cuff or rotator cuff calcific tendinopathy (RCCT).

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that surround the ball of the shoulder joint and keep it in the shoulder socket.

Sometimes, calcifications can build up in the rotator cuff, leading to pain and discomfort.

Symptoms

If a person has RCTT, there may be:

pain
reduced range of movement in the shoulder
calcifications that show up on imaging tests

Some people with calcium deposits have no symptoms, however.

Causes

Doctors do not know precisely why RCTT occurs. Some experts have suggested that it may be a degenerative condition that affects the tendons, but many people find that their symptoms improve with rest, suggesting that it is not degenerative.

Treatment

For many people, symptoms resolve with:

rest
physical therapy
the use of NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)

If these do not help, a doctor may recommend steroid injections or irrigation with an anesthetic or saline solution. In some cases, a person may need surgery to remove calcium deposits, but this is usually a last resort.

Teeth calcification

Calcium is a major component of teeth. Together with magnesium, it plays an essential role in creating healthy enamel. Healthy calcium production is essential for dental health.

However, additional calcifications can sometimes build up in dental pulp, which is in the middle of the tooth, and around the roots of the teeth.

This may be a sign of an underlying problem, such as kidney stones, according to a 2013 study. Pulp stones may also be a complication of cavities, deep fillings, or chronic inflammation.

In addition, dental calcifications can be a sign of familial hyperphosphatemic tumoral calcinosis. This is a rare inherited disorder in which a fibroblast growth factor deficiency leads to high levels of phosphate and calcifications throughout the body.

Pancreas calcification

Pancreas calcifications can occur if a person has chronic pancreatitis, and particularly if this is due to a high consumption of alcohol, according to a 2017 study.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of chronic pancreatitis include:

abdominal pain, which may spread to the back
loss of appetite and weight
nausea and vomiting
jaundice, which can lead to a yellowing of the whites of the eyes
thirst and a need to urinate frequently
fatigue

Causes

The main reason why pancreatic calcifications develop is chronic pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas.

Risk factors include:

high alcohol consumption
smoking
genetic factors
having a medical condition, such as cystic fibrosis
having a benign or cancerous tumor in the pancreas

Treatment

If calcifications occur as part of chronic pancreatitis, there may already be permanent damage to the pancreas.

Ways of relieving symptoms include:

limiting or avoiding alcohol consumption
avoiding smoking
taking pain relief medication

If a person has severe pain, surgery may be an option.

Summary

Calcification refers to the formation of calcium deposits. This can happen in various areas of the body, such as the arteries, kidneys, and breasts. It does not always cause symptoms.

Some types of calcification can be dangerous and others may simply be a sign of tissue repair.

Calcification may be irreversible, depending on the type. Even if it is, there may be ways to reduce pain and the risk of complications.

Biology / Biochemistry
Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Neurology / Neuroscience
Urology / Nephrology
Women's Health / Gynecology

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesMedical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

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Dystonia: Treatment. (n.d.).https://dystonia-foundation.org/living-dystonia/treatment/
Freire, V., et al. (2018). Radiological identification and analysis of soft tissue musculoskeletal calcifications.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6108965/
Javadi, S., et al. (2017). Pancreatic calcifications and calcified pancreatic masses: Pattern recognition approach on CT.https://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.17.17862
Khalid, N., et al. (2019). Pericardial calcification.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538342/
Klimuszko, E., et al. (2018). Evaluation of calcium and magnesium contents in tooth enamel without any pathological changes: In vitro preliminary study.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6153988/
Krishnan, Y., et al. (2018). Cartilage diseases.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl
Mohan, J., et al. (2019). Coronary artery calcification.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519037/
Nguyen, T., et al. (2014). Incidental findings of pericardial calcification.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4163768/
Overview: Chronic pancreatitis. (2018).https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-pancreatitis/
Primary familial brain calcification. (2020).https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/primary-familial-brain-calcification
Satheeshkumar, P. S., et al. (2013). Idiopathic dental pulp calcifications in a tertiary care setting in South India.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3548347/
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Medically reviewed by Megan Soliman, MD — Written by Jessica Caporuscio, PharmD — Updated on May 25, 2023

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What is calcification?

Artery calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Pericardial calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Kidney calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Joint and tendon calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Brain calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Breast calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Shoulder calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Teeth calcification

Pancreas calcification

Symptoms

Causes

Treatment

Summary

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