Adult T-cell Leukemia with Hypercalcemia-induced Metastatic Calcification in the Lungs Due to Production of Parathyroid Hormone-related Protein

Abstract

A 60-year-old man was diagnosed as adult T-cell leukemia with severe hypercalcemia because of production of parathyroid hormone-related protein. After admission, the patient had respiratory insufficiency with an infiltrative shadow in his lungs suggestive of pneumonia. However, neither improvement in respiratory function nor disappearance of the abnormal chest shadow was observed with administration of various antibiotics. An autopsy demonstrated the chest shadow had been caused by metastatic calcification associated with hypercalcemia due to production of parathyroid hormone-related protein. The possibility of metastatic calcification should be considered in patients with adult T-cell leukemia and hypercalcemia who have an abnormal chest shadow.
(Internal Medicine 40: 409-13, 2001)