The problems encountered in the surgical management of primary hyperparathyroidism

The problems encountered in the diagnosis and treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism were studied in 69 cases. The accuracy of imaging for hyperplasia was less than that for adenoma or carcinoma and the major causes for multiple operations were a failure to locate the four glands and mediastinal adenoma. The intravenous administration of high doses of calcitonin could reduce the serum calcium level of patients in hypercalcemic crisis. Carcinoma required ipsilateral modified radical neck dissection because of lymph node metastases, and non-medullary thyroid carcinoma was often associated with primary hyperparathyroidism. We found removal of the parathyroid adenoma and biopsy or extirpation of only one macroscopically normal gland to be a fully satisfactory procedure after bilateral neck exploration and attempting to identify at least four glands.