[Coincidence of non-medullary thyroid cancer and hyperparathyroidism]

Hyperparathyroidism (HPT) and non-medullary thyroid carcinoma are not related by a common embryologic origin. In a 5-years period (1985-1989) 163 patients were operated for HPT at our hospital. Of these, 54 patients had concurrent thyroid disease, which was operated simultaneously. In 6 cases, thyroid carcinoma was found, e.g. 3.7% of all patients. This prevalence compares well to reports of different authors in the literature. The most probable explanation is the early diagnosis of asymptomatic occult papillary carcinomas; this was true in 4 of our 6 patients with thyroid malignancy.