[Ultrasonic study of the parathyroid glands in patients with coralliform nephrolithiasis]

Functional activity of the parathyroid glands (PTG) is important for the choice of proper therapeutic policy in patients with dendritic nephrolithiasis. The location of the hyperfunctioning gland (usually adenomatously or hyperplastically changed) is a complicated problem as the dimensions of the gland are extremely small. Ultrasonic investigation of the parathyroid gland area for detection of the enlarged gland is used at the Research Institute of Urology, the RSFSR Ministry of Health. Linear (7.5 mHz) and sector (5 mHz) transducers have been used through the water medium and by the immediate contact with the surface of the patient's neck. A total of 24 subjects were enrolled in the study (13 females and 11 males aged 23-64 years). Enlarged parathyroid glands situated in the lower thyroid lobe (low parathyroid glands) or in the upper medial third of the thyroid lobe (upper parathyroid glands) were recorded in 9 patients and confirmed in the course of surgeries. In one case, the enlarged parathyroid gland was found in the thyroid tissue. Its length varied from 0.6 to 1.5 cm and its thickness, from 0.4 to 0.9 cm. All the glands were echographically evidenced as oval formations with a low-rate echogeneity and clear-cut smooth contours. In 3 cases the site of the gland was confirmed by a selective testing of the neck venous blood for parathyroid hormone. Histological examination of the removed glands revealed that hyperplastic changes were more common than the adenomatous ones.