Management and outcomes of hyperparathyroidism: a case series from a single institution over two decades

Hyperparathyroidism is a frequent endocrine disorder with variable clinical manifestations and outcomes. We aimed to evaluate clinical presentations, management and outcomes of hyperparathyroidism.

A retrospective study was conducted to include all patients presented with hyperparathyroidism between 1995 and 2014 at a single tertiary hospital with an average follow-up period of 46 months. Data were reviewed for clinical presentations, diagnostic work-up, intraoperative findings, management, and outcomes.

We identified 161 patients with hyperparathyroidism; 69% were females and the mean age was 49.4±15 years. Patients presented mainly with musculoskeletal (65.8%), renal (37.3%), gastrointestinal tract (53.8%) and neuropsychiatric (8.8%) manifestations. At presentation, mean serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels were elevated while mean vitamin D level was lower. Sestamibi-^99mTc (MIBI) scintigraphy was done for 134 patients (83.2%) and was positive in 94 (70%). Primary hyperparathyroidism (67.7%) was the most frequent diagnosis followed by secondary (29.8%) and tertiary hyperparathyroidism (2.5%). The frequent indication for surgery was hypercalcemia (67.3%), bone disease (35.6%) and renal calculi (28.9%). The main postoperative pathology was parathyroid adenoma (63.1%) followed by hyperplasia (37.3%). Fourteen (8.9%) and 18 (11.4%) patients had persistent and recurrent hyperparathyroidism, respectively. Autotransplantation of parathyroid tissue was done in 36 cases.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is the most frequent cause of the parathyroid disease. Parathyroidectomy is the effective surgical approach in symptomatic patients. Further studies are needed to establish the association between vitamin D levels, renal disorders and persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism.