Recovery of parathyroid function in patients with thyroid cancer treated by total thyroidectomy: An analysis of 685 patients with hypoparathyroidism at discharge of surgery

Objective We aimed to study the predictive factors for recovery of parathyroid function in hypoparathyroid patients after total thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer. Methods We designed a retrospective, multicentre and nation-wide analysis of patients with total thyroidectomy who were seen in twenty endocrinology departments from January to March 2018. We selected patients with histologically proven thyroid cancer and retrieved information related to surgical procedure and thyroid cancer features. Survival analysis and Cox regression analysis were used to study the relationship between these variables and the recovery of parathyroid function. Results From 685 patients with hypoparathyroidism at discharge of surgery, 495 (72.3%) recovered parathyroid function over time. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that this recovery was significantly related to the presence of specialized surgical team (P Conclusion In patients with thyroid cancer, recovery of parathyroid function after total thyroidectomy was directly related to postoperative Ca and PTH concentrations, and inversely related to lymph node metastases.