Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 7, 2025

Generation of Hypoparathyroid Rats via Carbon-Nanoparticle-Assisted Parathyroidectomy
Published on: July 14, 2023
The effect of surgical management in mitigating fragility fracture risk among individuals with primary
Bahar Golbon1, Rogeh Habashi2, Jonas Shellenberger3
1Section of Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: https://www.twitter.com/BaharGolbon.
Background:
Primary hyperparathyroidism predominately affects women who are postmenopausal and causes complications, including fragility fractures. Its treatment is parathyroidectomy, which is associated with low complication and >95% cure rates. Considering fractures are associated with premature death, we aimed to determine whether the surgical management of individuals with biochemical diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism was associated with a reduction in fracture risk.
Methods:
In this population-based cohort study, we used administrative health databases to identify adults ≥18 year old who were biochemically diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism between 2007 and 2016 in Ontario. Patients were included if their calcium was ≥2.6 mmol/L (≥10.42 mg/dL) with a concurrent parathyroid hormone of ≥2.2 pmol/L (≥20.75 pg/mL). We followed patients and compared the incidence of fractures between those with and without parathyroidectomy. To control for potential confounding, we used inverse probability of treatment weighting to estimate the average treatment effect in the treated. Fine-Gray competing risk regression models were used to determine the association between surgery and time to fracture.
Results:
In a cohort of 28,059 with a biochemical diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism, the mean age (standard deviation) was 65 years (14.2 years), and 75% (n = 21,139) were female. Only 12.6% (n = 3,523) underwent parathyroidectomy. Weighted fracture cumulative incidence at 12 years postdiagnosis was 10.17% (n = 182) in surgical patients and 14.04% (n = 2,004) in nonsurgical patients. Parathyroidectomy prevented 1 fracture for every 26 surgeries performed (weighted risk difference, 3.87%, 95% confidence interval, 0.96%-6.62%) and reduced the hazard of fracture by 22% (weighted hazard ratio, 0.78; 95% confidence interval, 0.64-0.95).
Conclusion:
In a large, publicly funded health system, parathyroidectomy significantly reduced the short- and long-term risk of fragility fractures in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Bone Remodeling
Fractures: Bone Repair
Minor fractures with no bone displacement are treated by immobilizing the fractured bone using a cast or splint. However, in the case of fractures with displaced bones, the broken bones are repositioned before immobilization to ensure successful healing without deformation and loss of function. The realignment of fractured bone ends is performed through a process called reduction. If the...
The Parathyroid Glands
Oxyphil cells, whose functions remain elusive, emerge during late puberty, adding a layer of complexity to the parathyroid gland's intricacies. In contrast, principal parathyroid cells undertake a vital role by...
Hormones and Bone Tissue
Hormones That Influence Osteoblasts and/or Maintain the Matrix
Several hormones are necessary for controlling bone growth and maintaining the bone matrix. The pituitary gland secretes growth hormone (GH), which, as its name implies, controls bone growth. This happens in several ways: first, it triggers chondrocyte...
Bone Disorders
Bone deposition is also affected by the levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone that promote osteoblast activity and bone matrix synthesis. When the level of these hormones decreases due to aging, it causes a reduction in bone deposition. As a result, bone resorption by osteoclasts...

