[Clinical study and surgical treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism]

A series of 26 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism surgically treated between 1970 and 1985 was reviewed to examine the clinical approach, the operative procedure and the results of surgical treatment. The study pointed out the reliability of PTH determination to confirm the diagnosis and the absence of efficacious diagnostic techniques for the preoperative localisation of the responsible lesion(s). Long term results were re-evaluated in 15 cases (58%), after a postoperative interval ranging from 1 to 13 years. The follow-up demonstrated a complete recovery in 12 patients, the persistence of a borderline symptomatology in 2, the relapse in one case.