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Persistent hyperactivity of the parathyroid glands in treated hypothyroid patients
R P Furlanetto1, M L Castro, T S Kasamatsu
1Division of Endocrinology, Escola Paulista de Medicina, São Paulo, Brazil.
Abstract:
Twelve untreated hypothyroid patients were submitted to EDTA infusion and the parathyroid hormone response to the induced hypocalcemia was studied with an amino-terminal specific assay. Eight of these patients were retested 6 months after achieving clinical and laboratory euthyroidism. The PTH response in the pretreatment condition was significantly higher than that obtained in a group of 10 normal individuals; this increased response had not normalized after 6 months of euthyroidism. This persisting hyperresponsiveness can be a contributory factor to the bone hypersensitivity to thyroid hormone replacement seen in hypothyroid patients.