[High resolution real time sonography of parathyroid tumors]

A total of 15 patients with parathyroid tumours were scanned preoperatively using high-resolution real-time sonography (7 MHz). Of these, 14 had a single adenoma or primary hyperplasia, one had a carcinoma. In 13 out of 15 patients the echogenicity of the parathyroid tumours was consistently less than of the adjacent normal thyroid tissue; in 2 out of 15 cases parathyroid neoplasms were barely distinguishable in echogenicity from thyroid tissue. No specific echomorphologic differences were proved to exist between primary parathyroid hyperplasia, adenoma or carcinoma. The smallest parathyroid neoplasia in this study detected by sonography measured 5 x 8 mm in diameter. The value and limits of parathyroid sonography were discussed with regard to our own experience and the reports in the literature.