Ultrasonic evaluation of primary hyperparathyroidism

: The authors evaluated the diagnostic reliability of echotomography in detecting parathyroid masses: 37 patients were studied with primary hyperparathyroidism, in four cases recurrent. They all underwent surgical ablation of the mass, identification of all glands, and biopsy of an apparently normal parathyroid. Echotomography was accurate in 91.4% of cases: it identified 27 out of 39 pathological glands (sensibility 69.2%) and gave no false-positive results (specificity 100%). Since parathyroid is often ectopic, oblique scans are suggested, i.e. of jugulum while the patient is swallowing. Such scans were always used in our study, in order to identify lesions even in case of "difficult" locations, such as the superior mediastinum.