A quick intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay in the surgical management of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism: a study of 206 consecutive cases

OBJECTIVE: The traditional surgical approach for patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) consists of the identification of at least four glands and in the removal of all hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue. DESIGN: To evaluate whether intraoperative parathyroid hormone (PTH) monitoring will allow a more limited surgical procedure by confirming complete removal of all hyperfunctioning tissue. METHODS: Plasma samples were obtained from 206 consecutive patients with sporadic PHPT before skin incision, during manipulation of a suspected adenoma, and 5 min (T-5) and 10 min after removal of abnormal parathyroid tissue. PTH was measured by a quick immunochemiluminescent assay (QPTH). The operative success was defined by a decrease of PTH greater than 50% of the highest pre-excision value. RESULTS: A >50% decrease of PTH occurred in 203 patients and was evident at T-5 in the majority of cases. All but three had normal serum calcium the day after surgery and afterwards. PTH concentration did not show a >50% decrease in the remaining three cases after completion of surgery. One patients had negative neck exploration and remained hypercalcemic; the other two had normal serum calcium at follow-up. Thus, the intraoperative QPTH correctly predicted the outcome of surgery in 201 patients (97.5%) (200 true positive and 1 true negative), and provided three false positive and two false negative results. CONCLUSIONS: The intraoperative QPTH measurement represents a useful tool to assist the surgeon during parathyroidectomy. It indicates whether all hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue has been removed, limiting the procedure to a unilateral neck exploration in most cases.