Successful minimally invasive surgery in primary hyperparathyroidism after combined preoperative ultrasound and...

The hypothesis that due to the high prevalence of solitary adenoma and the accuracy of modern imaging techniques it should be possible to cure a considerable number of patients by direct adenomectomy through a minimally invasive approach was tested in a consecutive series of 66 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. Preoperative parathyroid imaging consisted of a combination of (Doppler) ultrasound and spiral computed tomography with cine-loop reconstruction potentiality. If only one parathyroid adenoma was identified preoperatively, a minimally invasive approach was advised. If more than one adenoma was located, or when the imaging results were equivocal, the patient was advised to undergo a conventional bilateral neck exploration. Sixty-six patients (54 female, 12 male) with a median age of 60 years and a median serum calcium of 2.90 mmol L(-1) were studied. Fifty-one of these patients underwent minimally invasive surgery, which was successful in 49 patients, while conversion to conventional neck exploration was necessary in two patients. Conventional neck exploration was chosen for the other 15 patients. Six of these proved to have multiglandular disease or a retro-sternal adenoma, while in nine patients only one parathyroid adenoma was found. All patients became normocalcaemic postoperatively. Morbidity consisted of a transient unilateral vocal cord paralysis in one patient. These results support the original hypothesis: successful minimally invasive surgery was possible in 74% (49 of 66) of patients, thus avoiding conventional neck exploration. This strategy further simplifies the operative treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism without loss of efficiency.