ABSTRACT

SummaryIn this study we aimed to evaluate the results of surgical treatment of 15 patients who were treated for primary hyperparathyroidism and followed up in the outpatient clinic of our hospital between 1996-2004. All the patients were women with a mean age of 55.4 (between 35-73 years). The mean follow-up time was 8.6 months (between 3-17 months). The mean period of time since onset of symptoms till diagnosis was 21.6 months (between 3-48 months). All the patients had osteodystrophic changes. There were not any asymptomatic patient in our study group. Preoperative localisation studies included ultrasonography (USG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Tc -sesta MIBI 99m scintigraphy (Sg). One staged initial operation was enough in 11 patients, whereas a second operation was needed in 4 patients. In conclusion, primary hyperparathyroidism is still an underestimated disease in Turkey and patients are rarely asymptomatic due to delayed diagnosis. According to the western literature however, most of the patients are reported to be asymptomatic. Patients do feel better but they are rarely free of symptoms after surgery. Surgery should be offered even to the asymptomatic patients, because the treatment of possible future complications might be extremely difficult. Against all these surgery still remains as the only treatment modality for primary hyperparathyroidism.Key words: Primary hyperparathyroidism, imaging studies, symptoms