[Transoral partial parathyroidectomy]

Improvements in minimally invasive surgical techniques have resulted in the development of natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) to minimize operative trauma and perioperative morbidity. Considering the embryologic origin and development of the thyroid and parathyroid glands and their descent during embryogenesis into the final position in the neck, a transoral access to the thyroid region via a sublingual mucosal incision seems to be feasible. After implementation and improvement of a transoral access to the thyroid region in an animal model and human cadavers, we now report the first transoral excision of a parathyroid adenoma in a 37-year-old woman suffering from primary hyperparathyroidism.