Bilateral leg ulcers secondary to dystrophic calcinosis in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Calcinosis cutis can be classified into four subtypes: dystrophic, metastatic, idiopathic, and iatro-genic. Of these subtypes, dystrophic calcinosis (DC) is the most common, and is most frequently associated with connective tissue disease, particularly dermatomyositis and systemic sclerosis, and less commonly with systemic lupus erythematosus. However, DC associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is extremely rare. In this paper, we present a Japanese woman with RA, who suffered from bilateral leg ulcers secondary to DC. To the best of our knowledge, only two cases of DC associated with RA have been reported to date. Similar to this case, the DC lesions were observed in the extremities, including the buttocks in the other two cases. Although the ulcers on her left leg were gradually epithelialized after one year, they may easily recur due to whitish abnormal underlying tissues, and a large ulcer remains on her right leg. Thus, it is important for physicians to identify DC when encountering non-healing leg ulcers associated with connective tissue diseases.