Eggshell calcification (lymph nodes)
Updates to Article Attributes
Body
was changed:
Eggshell calcification refers to fine calcification seen at the periphery of a mass and usually relates to lymph node calcification. For similar appearance in the breast see eggshell calcification (breast).
In 1967 Jacobsen and Felson published criteria to help "avoid over-reading of the incidental circumferential concentrations of calcium and to eliminate confusion with the ring shadows of bronchi on end."4
- shell-like calcifications up to 2 mm thick must be present in the peripheral zone of at least two lymph nodes
- the calcifications may be solid or broken
- in at least one of the lymph nodes, the ringlike shadow must be complete
- the central part of the lymph node may show additional calcifications
- one of the affected lymph nodes must be at least 1 cm in its greatest diameter
Pathology
Aetiology
In the mediastinum and thorax
- silicosis: 5% patients
- treated lymphoma: (postirradiation Hodgkin disease) usually 1-9 years following treatment
- coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP): 1% patients
- sarcoidosis: calcification is uncommon (only 5% of patients) and occurs late in the disease; only rarely does it have an eggshell configuration
- scleroderma
- amyloidosis: rare
- blastomycosis (e.g. pulmonary blastomycosis): rare
- histoplasmosis (e.g. pulmonary histoplasmosis): rare
Differential diagnosis
For eggshell-like like calcification appearances in the thorax consider
- aneurysms
- parathyroid tumours
- pulmonary arteries in pulmonary arterial hypertension
- thymic cysts
- thyroid tumours and multinodular goitre
See also
-<p><strong>Eggshell calcification</strong> refers to fine calcification seen at the periphery of a mass and usually relates to lymph node calcification. For similar appearance in the breast see <a href="/articles/eggshell-calcification-breast-1">eggshell calcification (breast)</a>.</p><p>In 1967 <strong>Jacobsen and Felson</strong> published criteria to help "avoid over-reading of the incidental circumferential concentrations of calcium and to eliminate confusion with the ring shadows of bronchi on end." <sup>4</sup> These criteria were:</p><ul>- +<p><strong>Eggshell calcification</strong> refers to fine calcification seen at the periphery of a mass and usually relates to lymph node calcification. For similar appearance in the breast see <a href="/articles/eggshell-calcification-breast-1">eggshell calcification (breast)</a>.</p><p>In 1967 <strong>Jacobsen and Felson</strong> published criteria to help "avoid over-reading of the incidental circumferential concentrations of calcium and to eliminate confusion with the ring shadows of bronchi on end." These criteria were:</p><ul>
-</ul><h4>Differential diagnosis</h4><p>For eggshell-like calcification appearances in the thorax consider</p><ul>- +</ul><h4>Differential diagnosis</h4><p>For eggshell like calcification appearances in the thorax consider</p><ul>