[Real-time echography of the parathyroid glands]

Real time ultrasonography of the neck, using a sectorial scanner with an ordinary 5 MHz transducer, was performed on 24 patients with hypercalcemia. 21 of them were suffering from primary hyperparathyroidism and 3 from a severe paraneoplasic hypercalcemia. There were 18 true positive, 3 false positive, 1 false negative and 2 true negative. The sensibility and the negative predictive value of the method are 83%. The specificity and the negative predictive value are 95%. The accuracy is 91%. Real time ultrasonography of parathyroid glands is possible with a sectorial scanner using an ordinary 5 MHz transducer and is systematically done, in our institution, before cervicotomy.