[Anemia in primary hyperparathyroidism]

Among the complications associated with primary hyperparathyroidism, anemia has not been extensively studied. In order to assess the frequency of this anemia we make a retrospective study of the medical records of 62 patients with a primary hyperparathyroidism. In 40 of the 62 hyperparathyroidic patients the diagnosis was surgically proven (group 1) and in 22, typical laboratory changes were found (group 2). In all these cases no other causes of anemia, except hyperparathyroidism, could be found. The 2 groups were similar concerning age and sex. A normochromicnormocytic anemia was present in 11 patients in group 1 (24,5%) and in 7 in group 2 (31, 8%). This anemia was corrected after a successfull parathyroidectomy (parathyroid adenoma in all the operated cases). Anemia was correlated with neither Ca and P blood levels nor C1/P ratio. A significant inverse correlation was found between age and hemoglobin in anemic hyperparathyroidic patients. The etiopathogeny of this findings is discussed.