Multimodal treatment of calcific uraemic arteriolopathy (calciphylaxis) : a case series

BACKGROUND: This is an incident series of five dialysis patients with late-diagnosed calcific uraemic arteriolophathy (CUA), severe uncontrolled hyperparathyroidism and infected skin ulcerations. METHODS: A multimodal intervention was based on wound care, antibiotics, surgical debridement, sodium thiosulphate and cinacalcet and associated with regression of skin disease in four cases after varying treatment time periods ranging from 4 to 33 months. RESULTS: Multimodal treatment including sodium thiosulphate and cinacalcet was associated with very favourable local outcomes and survival. This series further confirms that the diagnosis of CUA is rarely made at the nodular, non-ulcerative phase of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: This series contributes to the build-up of case series reporting on the treatment of CUA, and will hopefully serve as a basis of well-conceived comparative effectiveness studies investigating the value of the combined interventions applied so far in this severe condition.