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Updated: May 9, 2026

Generation of Hypoparathyroid Rats via Carbon-Nanoparticle-Assisted Parathyroidectomy
Published on: July 14, 2023
Intact parathyroid hormone measurement at 24 hours after thyroid surgery as predictor of parathyroid function at long
María Teresa Julián1, Jose María Balibrea, María Luisa Granada
1Endocrinology and Nutrition Service, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Department of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
Background:
There is no consensus about the usefulness of postoperative intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) determination to predict permanent hypoparathyroidism (pHPP). We evaluated the value of calcium (Ca2+) and iPTH concentration at 24 hours after total thyroidectomy (TT) for predicting pHPP.
Methods:
Ca2+ and iPTH levels from 70 consecutive patients who underwent TT were measured at 24 hours and 6 months after TT.
Results:
Five patients (7.1%) developed pHPP. An iPTH concentration ≤5.8 pg/mL at 24 hours after TT identified patients at risk for pHPP (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 81.5%), but it was not accurate enough to predict its development (positive predictive value, 30%). Conversely, an iPTH level >5.8 pg/mL predicted normal parathyroid function at 6 months (negative predictive value, 100%). Compared with iPTH, a postoperative Ca2+ level ≤1.95 mmol/L was 60% sensitive and 78.5% specific to predict pHPP.
Conclusions:
An iPTH concentration >5.8 pg/mL on the first postoperative day rules out pHPP with much better diagnostic accuracy than Ca2+. Postoperative iPTH could be helpful in identifying patients at risk for developing pHPP.
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