[Selective parathyroidectomy with unilateral cervical exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism]

Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT), is caused in over 90% of the cases by a single parathyroid adenoma. Preoperative diagnostic imaging techniques, in particular dual phase scintigraphy with SestaMIBI/TC99 and high frequency probe ecography, are able to pinpoint it 90% of the time. These are the two cornerstones of modern pHPT surgery, which has witnessed the passage from cervical exploration of all the most common parathyroid glandular sites to a more carefully targeted, restricted approach in the side of the neck where the adenoma is suspected to be. This is how selective parathyroidectomy with unilateral cervical exploration and, recently, mini-invasive parathyroidectomy, came into being. Between 1996 and 2001, in the Otolaryngology Department of S. Maria della Misericordia Hospital in Udine, 39 patients affected by pHPT, half of whom (49%) were asymptomatic, underwent selective parathyroidectomy with unilateral cervical exploration. The object of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of this surgical technique by comparing the pre- and post-operative calcaemia and parathormone levels. The normalization of these parameters, and particularly of the latter, was considered indicative of successful treatment. All the postoperative calcaemia levels were normal, while elevated parathormone levels persisted in only 2 cases (5%). Our statistics showed a 95% efficacy for selective parathyroidectomy, a result that is comparable to the percentages described in the literature. There were, furthermore, no significant peri- or postoperative complications in any of the cases. These observations, together with the brief operating times required for the procedure (20-25 minutes on average) and the low cost of the material employed, enable us to conclude that selective parathyroidectomy with unilateral cervical exploration continues to hold its own as a valid option in the present scenario of surgical pHPT treatment, also in consideration of the fact that it does not present the rigid inclusion criteria characteristics of mini-invasive techniques.