Penile Calciphylaxis: The Use of Radiological Investigations in the Management of a Rare and Challenging Condition

Penile Calciphylaxis: A Rare-Case Report of Calcific Uremic Arteriolopathy in a Patient with End-Stage Renal Disease and Severe Vascular Insufficiency

Penile calciphylaxis is a rare and life-threatening condition, most commonly seen in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing dialysis. The pathophysiology includes calcification of small blood vessels, leading to ischemic changes, most commonly affecting the extremities. Treatment modalities vary based on the history and condition of the patient. In this report, we present a case of a 58-year-old male with ESRD on hemodialysis (HD) who presented with sloughed necrosis of his penis due to systemic calciphylaxis. Despite the severity of the necrosis, he was deemed unfit to undergo surgical intervention due to his complex comorbidities and was instead treated with less invasive local wound care.

Penile Calciphylaxis Obscured by Phimosis in an End-Stage Renal Disease Patient: A Case Report

Penile calciphylaxis is a rare and severe complication primarily observed in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) undergoing dialysis. A 50-year-old man presented with severe penile pain and phimosis. He had a history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus for 10 years, complicated by ESRD and was awaiting a cadaveric kidney transplant. He was on cinacalcet therapy for tertiary hyperparathyroidism. The patient underwent circumcision at which discolouration and necrotic patches involving the glans penis were noted. The histological findings were consistent with calciphylaxis and suppurative inflammation. However, due to persistent severe pain and progressive gangrene, a partial penectomy was performed. This report demonstrates the importance of consideration of calciphylaxis in patients with ESRD when presenting with penile pain, even phimosis.

The Accelerated Onset of Calciphylaxis in a 72-Year-Old Female Hemodialysis Patient

Calciphylaxis is a unique medical condition characterized by calcification of the medial layer of arterioles and soft tissues in a patient's skin at the level of the dermis and subcutaneous adipose tissue. The rate of progression of calciphylaxis is rapid, starting with a reduction of blood flow that leads to ischemic changes in the skin that can manifest as painful cutaneous erythematous nodules or plaques and later as skin ulceration. The majority of patients affected by calciphylaxis have predisposing comorbidities such as end-stage renal disease with a long history of hemodialysis and electrolyte abnormalities in calcium, phosphate, and parathyroid hormone levels. This report presents the case of a 72-year-old female patient on hemodialysis who developed calciphylaxis. The methods for early prognosis (the methods of early diagnosis), including clinical presentation, risk factors, imaging techniques, and laboratory investigations, are discussed. The presented case is particularly noteworthy given the onset of calciphylaxis within a mere three months of initiating hemodialysis, a timeline significantly shorter than the typically observed period in most patients. (The case detailed in this report outlines the rapid onset of calciphylaxis in a patient who was receiving hemodialysis for only three months.) This patient with early-onset calciphylaxis highlights the unpredictable nature of calciphylaxis and the need for increased clinical vigilance even in the initial stages of hemodialysis.

Penile Calciphylaxis: A Successfully Treated Case

Penile calciphylaxis is a rare presentation of calcific uremic arteriolopathy and can be a life-threatening condition usually seen in patients with end-stage renal failure with hemodialysis. The clear etiopathogenesis of calciphylaxis is not fully understood, but it is postulated to be characterized by the accumulation of calcium in the microvessels of adipose tissue and skin, which leads to ischemia and necrosis, causing painful ulcerations, and could potentially be complicated by sepsis and mortality. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is one of the major risk factors for penile calciphylaxis. In this report, we describe a case of a 53-year-old Hispanic male patient with ESRD and diabetes on hemodialysis, who presented with a five-day history of acute, severe, burning, non-radiating pain to the head of his penis associated with black discoloration. He was diagnosed with penile calciphylaxis and received a combination of conservative and surgical interventions, resulting in a highly positive outcome marked by complete healing of the scar without any reported complications.

Risk factors, treatment modalities, and clinical outcomes of penile calciphylaxis: systematic review

PURPOSE

To perform a systematic review of case reports and case series to investigate risk factors, treatment modalities, and the outcome of penile calciphylaxis.

METHOD

We performed a systematic search of the MEDLINE and Scopus databases to identify case reports or case series of penile calciphylaxis. The patient characteristics, laboratory investigations, diagnostic modalities, treatment modalities, and outcomes were extracted. We compared clinical characteristics and treatment between patients who survived or demised and between patients with clinical improvement and those without to identify the poor prognostic risk factors.

RESULTS

Ninety-four articles were included from 86 case reports and 8 case series with 121 patients. Most of the patients were on hemodialysis (78.9%). The median time since starting dialysis was 48 months (24-96 months). Sodium thiosulfate was used to treat penile calciphylaxis in 23.6%. For surgical management, partial or total penectomy was performed in 45.5% of the patients. There was no association between sodium thiosulfate use, partial or total penectomy, and improvement in clinical outcomes. The mortality rate in patients with penile calciphylaxis was 47.8% and the median time to death was 3 months (0.75-9 months). The presence of extragenital involvement was significantly related to mortality (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION

A calcified penile artery results in penile calciphylaxis, a rare vascular phenomenon associated with high morbidity and mortality. Management of penile calciphylaxis includes the medical management of risk factors, surgical debridement, or penectomy. Therefore, early prevention and diagnosis as well as immediate appropriate treatment are needed.

Penile Ultrasound: An Essential Tool in an Emergency Setting (Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Diseases)

Penile conditions requiring urgent care are uncommon and result from trauma and a variety of non-traumatic causes. Some cases could rapidly evolve into an emergency situation and require prompt treatment to prevent severe complications. Therefore, correct and rapid diagnosis is fundamental. Although clinical history and physical examination are essential, diagnostic imaging is usually required to confirm the clinical diagnosis. In this setting, the sonologist in the emergency department has to be familiar with the basic US penile anatomy and with the most common US findings in urgent penile care. US is the key imaging method because it is readily available, safe, cost-effective, and well-tolerated by the patient. US can differentiate intracavernosal from extracavernosal hematomas and detect rupture of the tunica albuginea, consistent with penile fracture, that requires early surgical exploration. Color Doppler evaluation and spectral analysis are necessary to depict vascular abnormalities.

Images - Penile pain in the setting of end-stage renal disease: An unusual anatomic location for calciphylaxis

In this report, we present a case of penile calciphylaxis, an extremely rare and serious condition occurring in association with dysregulation of systemic calcium metabolism in the setting of chronic renal impairment. Calciphylaxis can occur at various body sites and is associated with diffuse vascular calcifications in small and medium-sized arteries of the involved tissues. Penile calciphylaxis has a grim prognosis. Calciphylaxis is an important etiologic differential diagnosis for penile necrosis and penile pain in patient’s being treated with dialysis for end-stage kidney disease. Diagnosis of penile calciphylaxis is possible via clinical and radiological evaluations. Medical management may alleviate symptoms; however surgical interventions may be necessary, and histological studies may allow for definitive classification.

A Fatal Case of Penile Calciphylaxis

Calciphylaxis is a rare and serious complication of chronic renal failure characterized by vascular calcium overload. It has a high mortality rate. Penile calciphylaxis is an extremely rare condition of penile necrosis due to calciphylaxis of the penile arterioles. Presented here is a severe case of systemic calciphylaxis initially presented as penile necrosis treated with sodium thiosulfate and amputation.

Calciphylaxis of the penis and distal digits: a case report

Background

Calciphylaxis is a rare, often fatal disease resulting from calcification of dermal arterioles and capillaries. Usually diagnosed in patients with end-stage renal disease, this disorder typically presents as necrotic, nonhealing ulcers in acral or adipose areas. Here we report the case of an elderly man who was found to have calciphylaxis of the distal digits and penis, the latter of which is an uncommon site of disease that carries a particularly poor prognosis.

Case presentation

A 73-year-old African American man with multiple medical comorbidities including dialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease presented with worsening painful, necrotic lesions on his glans penis and several distal digits over the last 2 months. The wound on the glans was foul smelling with overlying purulence and had been unsuccessfully treated with amoxicillin–clavulanic acid. Discovery of diffuse intravascular calcification on computed tomography, in addition to a markedly elevated calcium–phosphate product immediately prior to the onset of his ulcers, led to the diagnosis of calciphylaxis. The patient was initiated on sodium thiosulfate without improvement in his lesions, and he died 3 months later after another prolonged hospitalization.

Conclusions

While calciphylaxis is a rare disease, involvement of the distal digits and especially the penis is even more uncommon and portends a particularly poor prognosis: 6-month mortality rates are reportedly as high as 70%. This suggests that prompt recognition and management of the disease is required; however, despite receiving standard therapy, our patient failed to experience improvement in his disease and instead developed several more fingertip ulcers at blood glucose sample points during his hospitalization. A corollary of the case presented here is the need for more effective management of calciphylaxis, especially for patients in whom uncommon sites, such as the penis, are involved.

Management of chronic urinary retention in glanular penile calciphylaxis

Urinary retention in penile calciphylaxis is a rare phenomenon due to its association with end-stage renal failure.

A 48 year-old male was noted to have a lesion with necrotic appearances overlying his urethral meatus with increasing bladder volumes. He is on haemodialysis for end-stage renal failure and was being treated for infected calciphylaxis ulcers on his thigh.

The current literature provides little guidance on managing urinary retention in this cohort of patients.

We recommend that ultrasound-guided aspiration of the bladder should be performed in patients with glanular penile calciphylaxis who develop urinary retention as it offers a high safety profile.

Isolated Penile Calciphylaxis Diagnosed by Ultrasound Imaging in a New Dialysis Patient: A Case Report

RATIONALE

The recognition of calciphylaxis often eludes practitioners because of its multiple ambiguous presentations. It classically targets areas of the body dense with adipose tissue. A heightened suspicion for the disorder is therefore required in the case of penile calciphylaxis, given its unconventional location. The diagnosis of calciphylaxis is also challenging as the gold standard for diagnosis is biopsy which can often yield equivocal results. Unfortunately, in penile calciphylaxis, the utility of biopsies is further debated due to their potential to precipitate new lesions and their decreased sensitivity due to the limited depth of tissue that can be sampled. For these reasons, it is important that practitioners recognize other accessible and accurate investigative tools which can aid in their diagnosis.

PRESENTING CONCERNS OF THE PATIENT

We present the case of a 49-year-old man who presented to the emergency room with penile pain in the context of known chronic kidney disease secondary to diabetic nephropathy. The pain had been present for about a week, was exquisitely tender, and was initially associated with a faint violaceous lesion. This gentleman had just recently initiated peritoneal dialysis and had no other lesions on his body.

DIAGNOSIS

His pain was determined by ultrasound and plain radiograph to be secondary to calciphylaxis after two biopsies were nondiagnostic.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient had already made changes to his diet to reduce phosphate and calcium intake, and had been on phosphate-lowering therapy with both calcium and phosphate being within their respective target range. Following his diagnosis, this patient was promptly converted from peritoneal dialysis to hemodialysis with sodium thiosulphate and initiated hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This patient continues to be followed by nephrology and urology specialists.

A rapid unfavorable penile calciphylaxis case followed by total penectomy

When the diagnosis of penile calciphylaxis is suggested, the evolution of the disease is rapidly unfavorable; in this case, a rapid medical treatment must be established to obtain an improvement of the disease to avoid penectomy.

Penile calciphylaxis diagnosis and treatment challenges a case report

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Rarity of this presentation.

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Controversies on treatment.

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Controversies about diagnosis.

Introduction

Painful tip penile ischemic lesion that varies from ulceration to dry gangrene which is calcified in a patient with ESRD on chronic dialysis is a seriously complicated disease due to microvascular disease of subcutaneous and adipose tissue.

Case presentation

72 gentleman who is on chronic dialysis for the last 8 years because of ESRD, In which he developed many vascular disease and amputation done for him presented with spreading black painful areas at the tip of the glans for which conservative treatment took place for about month.

Discussion

The diagnosis and management of this rare disease still unclear. Diagnosis mostly clinical, treatment conservative versus surgical.

Conclusion

Controversies of for penile Calciphylaxis diagnosis and treatment for its rarity, high mortality rate, and as its part of systematic disease treatment till know individualized according to patient status and extent of the necrotic area.

Penile calciphylaxis: A retrospective case-control study

BACKGROUND

Calciphylaxis is a rare disorder characterized by skin necrosis caused by calcium deposition within vessels, thrombosis, and subsequent tissue ischemia. Penile involvement may rarely occur.

OBJECTIVE

To identify risk factors, diagnosis, management, and mortality of patients with penile calciphylaxis.

METHODS

A retrospective medical record review was conducted of 16 patients with penile calciphylaxis treated at 2 large urban tertiary care centers between January 2001 and December 2019. A control group of 44 male patients with nonpenile calciphylaxis at the same institution was included.

RESULTS

The median survival of patients with penile calciphylaxis was 3.8 months (interquartile range, 27.0 months). Mortality was 50% at 3 months and 62.5% at 6 months for penile calciphylaxis, and 13.6% at 3 months and 29.5% at 6 months for controls (P = .008). Patients with penile calciphylaxis were less likely to be obese (P = .04) but more likely to have hyperparathyroidism (P = .0003) and end-stage renal disease (P = .049).

LIMITATIONS

Retrospective study design and small sample size.

CONCLUSIONS

This study further defines the disease course of penile calciphylaxis, which has high mortality. Imaging may be used to aid diagnosis. Risk factors include end-stage renal disease, hyperparathyroidism, and normal body mass index.

Penile necrosis by calciphylaxis leading to gangrene in a patient with chronic renal failure on dialysis: A case report

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Penile necrosis by calciphylaxis is a rare disease.

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The diagnosis of CUA is often difficult.

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The Management of this rare condition is still a matter of debate.

Introduction

Penile calciphylaxis is a rare disease whose diagnosis is not easy. It is associated with chronic renal failure. It is a result of media calcification and blood vessels’ fibrosis such as penile arteries that eventually lead to gangrene formation in extremities and penis. Calcific uremic arteriolopathy is commonly associated with secondary hyperparathyroidism and high level of calcium and phosphate.

Presentation of case

In this paper, we report a case of penile necrosis induced by calciphylaxis associated with chronic renal failure and diabetic macroangiopathy. We performed a partial and total amputation in two stages because of the wound infection. The patient died one week after a total penectomy.

Discussion

The skin biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis despite being a risky process. In most cases, appropriate medical management is advocated. The treatment of this pathology is still controversial.

Conclusion

The management of this rare situation is controversial, and its diagnosis is still difficult due to the scarcity of reported cases.

Case Report: Penile necrosis associated to paraphimosis with calciphylaxis due to terminal chronic kidney disease

Background: Penile necrosis is a rare condition that may present in patients with diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease (CKD). The recommended treatment is controversial. We report a case of penile necrosis in a diabetic patient caused by episode of paraphimosis associated with uremic arteriopathy treated with partial amputation.

Clinical Case: A 53-year-old male with a background of arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and CKD in hemodialysis. The patient presented with paraphimosis and glans necrosis. An emergency circumcision was carried out. A doppler ultrasound found fluid collection in the left corpus cavernosum, parietal vascular calcifications and vascular insufficiency in the corpus cavernosum that suggested necrosis. A partial amputation of the penis was carried out. After three years of follow-up, the outcome has remained favorable.

Conclusions: Penile necrosis is a rare but serious complication of terminal CKD. In these patients, systemic calciphylaxis is usually observed. The main take-away lesson is that a multidisciplinary approach is necessary.

Penile Calciphylaxis in a Patient with End-stage Renal Disease: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Penile calciphylaxis is a rare cause of penile gangrene that presents in patients with end-stage renal disease. The rates of comorbidity and mortality of penile calciphylaxis are extremely high. Unlike other penile gangrene, such as Fournier's gangrene, the benefit of aggressive surgical therapy is controversial. Here we present a case of penile calciphylaxis in a 43-year-old man with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis. He received total penectomy but died due to multisystem complications 2 weeks after surgery. We review the literature on the management options and outcomes in patients with penile calciphylaxis.