Pathologic intrathyroidal parathyroid glands.

BACKGROUND: Parathyroid glands originate from the third and fourth branchial pouches and migrate caudally to their final positions. Aberrations during migration result in anomalous locations. Intrathyroidal location is not common. METHODS: We reviewed cervical explorations performed from 1974 to 1993 in hyperparathyroidism patients. RESULTS: We found pathological intrathyroidal glands in six patients. Three patients had adenomas (left superior, left inferior and right inferior glands). The hyperplastic glands were left inferior in one patient and right inferior in the remaining two. Intraoperative diagnosis was made in three cases in which palpation of the thyroid gland showed a nodule that was suspected to be the parathyroid missing gland. In three patients it was a finding in thyroidectomy or hemithyroidectomy specimens, two of them with associated thyroid nodular disease. CONCLUSIONS: Ipsilateral thyroidotomy on the side of a palpable thyroid mass or blind hemithyroidectomy are justified if a presumably pathological intrathyroidal gland is suspected, when all other sites in the neck have been excluded.