1997 Volume 43 Issue 2 Pages 106-108
We describe a patient in whom calcification occurred around silicon implanted into the cheek to reconstruct a tissue defect caused by noma 35 years previously.
A 50-year-old woman visited our department because of a swelling of the left cheek and severely limited mouth opening. A computed tomographic scan revealed the presence of an implant, about 3cm in diameter, surrounded by calcified tissue in the left cheek. The impant was removed surgically and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and an X-ray microanalyzer. SEM showed that calcification occurred in the connective tissue surrouding the implant. At higher magnification, the calcification sites showed a globular structure. The major mineral components of the globular structures were calcium and phosphate. The molecular ratio of calcium and phosphate was 1.67±0.052, which was similar to that of hydroxyapatite.
