Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Establishment of a Simple and Effective Rat Model for Intraoperative Parathyroid Gland Imaging
Published on: August 17, 2022
Relationship of technetium Tc 99m sestamibi scans to histopathological features of hyperfunctioning parathyroid
Nicholas Y Mehta1, James M Ruda, Silloo Kapadia
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Objective:
To investigate the histopathological features of pathologic parathyroid specimens associated with negative preoperative technetium Tc 99m sestamibi scans.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Tertiary care center.
Patients:
One hundred fourteen patients who underwent sestamibi scans before surgical exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism between 1996 and 2001.
Interventions:
Surgical exploration and removal of parathyroid adenomas.
Main Outcome Measures:
Histopathological characteristics associated with true-positive and false-negative sestamibi scans, including parathyroid specimen weight, size, relative oxyphil and chief cell content, parathyroid hormone staining patterns, cellular architecture, and various immunohistochemical staining patterns.
Results:
Twenty-three (24%) of 98 patients with parathyroid adenomas had negative sestamibi scan results. Among 20 age- and sex-matched patients with false-negative results vs 20 patients with true-positive results, tumor size (P = .04) and oxyphil cell content (P = .03) were found to be significantly different.
Conclusion:
Parathyroid gland size and oxyphil content are descriptive and predict differences between sestamibi properties of parathyroid adenomas but have no current therapeutic implications for parathyroid surgery.
Related Concept Videos
Imaging Studies II: Positron Emission Tomography and Scintigraphy
Fundamental Principles of PET
Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System VI: Calcium -Scoring CT
Positron Emission Tomography
One of the main requirements of a PET scan is a positron-emitting radioisotope, which is produced in a cyclotron and then attached to a substance used by the part of the body being...
The Parathyroid Glands
Oxyphil cells, whose functions remain elusive, emerge during late puberty, adding a layer of complexity to the parathyroid gland's intricacies. In contrast, principal parathyroid cells undertake a vital role by producing...
Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System V: CT

