Surgical Treatment of Ectopic Mediastinal Parathyroid Tumors: A 23-Year Clinical Data Study in a Single Center

Background. Ectopic mediastinal parathyroid glands are parathyroid glands located completely below the clavicle. At present, most literature reports on ectopic mediastinal parathyroid tumors (EMPT) are case reports or small case sequences.Methods. This study conducted a retrospective analysis of ectopic mediastinal parathyroid tumors cases treated over the past 23 years, summarizing and analyzing general conditions, preoperative positioning, postoperative pathology, intraoperative conditions, and long-term follow-up results.Results. This study enrolled 28 patients. Among them, 27 patients underwent preoperative localization diagnosis using 99mTc-sestamibi scan (MIBI) in conjunction with chest computed tomography (CT), including 26 cases of the anterior superior mediastinum and 2 cases of middle mediastinum. Postoperative pathology revealed 23 cases of parathyroid adenoma, 4 cases of parathyroid hyperplasia, and 1 case of parathyroid cyst. In this study, 12 patients underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and thoracotomy approaches. Using Mann-Whitney U test, we discovered that VATS approach group is significantly superior in surgical time (P = 0.039) and intraoperative bleeding (P < 0.001). Within one week of surgery, 26 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) experienced a significant decrease in blood parathyroid hormone (PTH) (P < 0.001) and blood calcium (P < 0.001), and all achieved long-term remission.Conclusions. EMPT is most frequently performed in the anterior superior mediastinum. EMPT is predominantly parathyroid tumors, and most of them are associated with PHPT. MIBI and chest CT combination can be used for preoperative lesion localization (positive rate 96.15%). VATS can be used as a better surgical approach. PHPT patients before surgery can achieve long-term symptom relief with surgical treatment.