CASE reports of hypoparathyroidism following thyroidectomy far out-number those of idiopathic parathyroid deficiency. As late as 1939 Drake et al. (10) found only eight established cases in the literature (2, 3, 5, 6, 21, 26, 27), to which they added six cases of their own. To date 20 more cases have been reported (4, 7, 12, 13, 15, 19, 23, 24, 34, 39, 40, 41, 44). Of these 34 cases, 24 had their onset of symptoms before the age of 15, and only two, both children, showed associated signs of adrenal insufficiency. The rare occurrence of combined parathyroid and adrenal insufficiency, and the absence of previous pathological reports in such cases in the modern literature prompted the following case report. First admission: E. K. was admitted to the New York Nursery and Child's Hospital in June, 1934, at the age of 9½ years because of convulsions. Her birth and early development had been normal. Convulsive seizures began at three years of age and recurred at approximately yearly intervals. At the age of five years her serum calcium was found to be 5 mg. percent, and a diagnosis of tetany was made. In the interval between January and June, 1934, she had three convulsions, each preceded by frontal headache and vomiting of two to three weeks' duration.
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Martha F. Leonard (1946) studied this question.