[Advantages of the determination of parathyroid hormone (PTH) intraoperatively in hyperparathyroidism surgery]

To evaluate the utility of rapid or turbo intraoperative parathyroid (PTH) assay in the surgery of hyperparathyroidism. Since 2000 to july 2004 we have used this test on 39 patients. 24 of them corresponded to primary hyperparathyroidisms and 15 to secondary forms. Our results showed a PTH decreasing percentage >70% at 15 minutes in 92.3% of the cases. Only in two patients (5.1%) persisted the hypercalcemia after the surgery and one was reoperated with good clinic evolution. As advantages we stand out the reduction of surgical time, permitting unilateral parathyroid exploration instead a bilateral in primary HPT, and the prediction of success by confirming the excision of all hyperfunctionating parathyroid tissue in patients with multiple gland hyperplasia.