Purpose or Case Report: Ductus Arteriosus calcification is a poorly comprehended pathology occasionally reported on chest radiographs, more commonly on CT. The purpose of this educational abstract is to present the concepts surrounding ductal arteriosus (DA) calcification and reviews the literature to date.
We retrospectively searched the main medical literature (PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL and Google scholar databases) using the following keywords: “ductus arteriosus”, “ligamentum arteriosum”, “calcification”, “ductal”, “patent ductus arteriosus”, “children”, “paediatric”. Articles regarding ductus arteriosus calcification were further evaluated for citations.

Sixteen articles were found which dated back over nearly a century. Of these eight concerned a paediatric population and very few had histological confirmation. The majority highlighted that ductal calcification is more prevalent than previously thought. Ductal calcification was initially reported on the chest roentgen-ray in 1931 by Weiss. The increasing prevalence has been compounded by the use of the greater spatial resolution offered by modern CT scanners. A study in 2012 showed up to a third of children have ductal calcification on CT, with peak incidence is towards the end of the first decade in girls. There is conflicting opinion regarding the pathophysiology of ductal calcification, which may be either ductal aneurysmal thrombus regression, or more likely ligamentum arteriosum intimal and medial wall calcification.

This literature review illustrates the general paucity of histological data and suggests that the autopsy evidence favours intimal and medial wall calcification.
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