Institutional characterisation of water clear cell parathyroid adenoma: a rare entity often unrecognised by...

Parathyroid lesions exhibiting a water clear cell morphology are exceedingly rare manifestations in primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), and the phenomenon has been reported both for uniglandular (water clear cell adenoma; WCCA) and multiglandular disease (water clear cell hyperplasia; WCCH). In all, only 24 previous descriptions of WCCA exist in the literature. Herein, we present seven cases with water clear cell morphology (6 WCCAs and 1 case of WCCH) in an institutional series of approximately 4000 parathyroid lesions spanning 29 years in a tertiary centre setting. Major histological attributes and clinical parameters associated with this morphological subtype were reviewed, and a literature search was conducted. WCCA and WCHH exhibited an institutional prevalence of 0.15% and 0.025%, respectively. All cases displayed histological hallmarks of water clear cell morphology, with cells exhibiting abundant cytoplasm filled with vacuoles. Atypical findings or unequivocal evidence of invasive behaviour were not observed. The gender distribution was 6:1 (F:M), patients were generally symptomatic with mild hypercalcaemia, and the median age at surgery was 53 years (range 38-78). The preoperative localisation was inconclusive in four of seven, and neck exploration of all four glands was undertaken in five cases. The excised WCCAs exhibited an average weight of 1215 mg, markedly higher than conventional adenomas, and all patients were cured of PHPT following parathyroidectomy. Interestingly, previous reports mirror our observations that these lesions often are large, in relation to their sizes biochemically fairly indolent, and indecisively localised using scintigraphy, providing correlations of possible clinical value when pre-operatively assessing these rare lesions.