THYMIC CALCIFICATION AS A MORPHOLOGICAL MARKER OF IRREVERSIBILITY OF ACCIDENTAL INVOLUTION IN CHILDREN
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Abstract
The review considers thymus calcification as a possible morphological marker of the irreversibility of its accidental involution in childhood. The available descriptions of this phenomenon are analyzed, and their evidence value is assessed: the data are based on single observations, small series, and experimental studies, none of which allows us to establish the frequency of the phenomenon and its relationship with the phase of involution. The article discusses the etiopathophysiological mechanisms of calcification, substantiating the concept of Hassall's corpuscles as the most likely «target» in the thymus, involving etiological triggers, matrix vesicles, trans-differentiation of the organ's stromal cells into an osteoblast-like phenotype, and the contribution of reactive oxygen species and post-apoptotic factors. The etiology of this pathomorphosis, the quantitative assessment of the density of calcification of the morphological substrate (Gassal bodies), and the dependence of immune function suppression on the prevalence of the process remain relevant.
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