Microcalcifications in the
breast are made up of
calcium phosphate or
calcium oxalate. When consisting of calcium phosphate, they are usually
dystrophic calcifications (occurring in degenerated or necrotic tissue). Yet, the mechanism of their formation is not fully known. Calcium oxalate crystals in the breast may be seen on
mammography and are usually benign, but can be associated with
lobular carcinoma in situ. Microcalcification was first described in 1913 by surgeon
Albert Salomon. File:Histopathology of microcalcifications in non-neoplastic breast.jpg|Calcium phosphate microcalcifications in non-neoplastic breast tissue. File:Histopathology of dystrophic microcalcifications in ductal carcinoma in situ.jpg|Histopathology of dystrophic calcium phosphate microcalcifications in
ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast, H&E stain. File:Histopathology of a breast cyst with calcium oxalate crystals, annotated.jpg|Histopathology of calcium oxalate crystals in a benign breast cyst, H&E stain. In contrast to an artifact of crowded cells, the DCIS calcification pictured above characteristically extends outside the focal plane, as the background DCIS is blurred in this focus. == References ==