Re-operative surgery for recurrent or persistent primary hyperparathyroidism

Persistent and recurrent hyperparathyroidism - Attitude

BACKGROUND

Despite parathyroidectomy represents the curative treatment for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) in up to 98% of patients, persistent hyperparathyroidism (perHPT) and recurrent hyperparathyroidism (rHPT) rates are reported in 22% and 10%, respectively. Indications for reoperation must be balanced with the higher risk of postoperative complications. The aim of this review is summarizing the current evidence in terms of preoperative assessment and surgical approach in patients with perHPT and rHPT.

METHODS

Operations for pHPT between 1997 and 2023 in our center were analyzed and patients with perHPT and rPTH at time of referral were included.

RESULTS

Among 1730 parathyroidectomies for pHPT, 85 patients underwent revisional surgery. Eleven and 74 out of these 85 cases were due to perHPT and rHPT, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Prior to reoperation, biochemical assessment and localization methods should always be performed to properly plan surgical strategy. Surgical experience represents the primary determinant in achieving effective disease control.

Primary Hyperparathyroidism: Redefining Cure

Primary hyperparathyroidism is the most common cause of hypercalcemia. Follow-up can be resource-intensive and costly. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a subset of patients who can be defined cured earlier than six months. This was a retrospective study of patients who underwent parathyroidectomy between January 2012 and March 2014. Patients with a history of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome, and secondary or tertiary hyperparathyroidism were excluded. Patients with normal preoperative calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) and those without six months follow-up were excluded. Patients were divided into two groups: cured and not cured. Data analysis was performed between the two groups. A total of 509 patients were screened, and 214 met our inclusion criteria: 202 in the cured category and 12 in the not cured category (94% cure rate). There was no significant difference between age, gland weight, or pre-operative PTH. There was a statistically significant difference between final intraoperative PTH (IOPTH) (37 vs 55, P = 0.008) and per cent PTH decrease (69 vs 43%, P < 0.0001). There was a significant difference between intraoperative cure rate (P < 0.0006), imaging concordance (P = 0.0115), and solitary versus multiglandular disease (P = 0.0151). Subgroup analysis in patients with concordant imaging, solitary parathyroid adenoma, and IOPTH decrease by 50 per cent to normal or near-normal correlated with a six-month cure rate of 97 per cent. Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism with concordant imaging, single-adenoma pathology, and IOPTH decrease by 50 per cent to normal or near-normal levels (15–65 pg/mL) can be considered cured and may need less frequent follow-up.

Ultrasound-guided methylene blue dye injection for parathyroid localization in the reoperative neck

BACKGROUND

The goal of this study was to review a single institution's experience using intraoperative ultrasound-guided (ioUSG) methylene blue dye injection for the localization and removal of enlarged parathyroid glands in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism and a history of previous neck surgery.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of nine consecutive patients who underwent reoperative parathyroidectomy using ioUSG methylene blue dye injection.

RESULTS

All patients had successful resolution of their hyperparathyroidism, with at least a 50 % decrease in intraoperative parathyroid hormone level after resection. One patient had transient recurrent laryngeal nerve paresis. There were no permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries or cases of permanent hypoparathyroidism.

CONCLUSIONS

Blue dye injection is a safe and effective method of localizing diseased parathyroid glands in the reoperative neck.

Incidence of concomitant hyperparathyroidism in patients with thyroid disease requiring surgery

BACKGROUND

Thyroid disease and hyperparathyroidism (HPT) are among the most common endocrine disorders, however, their association has not been well established. The aim of the present study was to determine the incidence of concomitant HPT in patients with thyroid disease requiring surgery, because a single definitive surgery should ideally be performed.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed a prospectively maintained database of patients who underwent thyroidectomy at a single institution. Data collected included the patients' initial indication for surgery, preoperative workup, and operative findings.

RESULTS

Of the 1,049 patients who underwent thyroidectomy, 56 (5%) had concomitant HPT and underwent simultaneous parathyroidectomy. Of these 56 patients, 36 initially presented with thyroid disease and 20 with HPT. The mean age was 59 ± 2 years, and 79% were women. The mean preoperative calcium and parathyroid hormone levels were elevated at 10.4 ± 0.1 mg/dL and 87 ± 7 pg/mL, respectively. Most of these patients had primary HPT (n = 54, 96%). Of the 36 patients presenting initially with thyroid disease, 26 had an elevated calcium or parathyroid hormone value and were preoperatively diagnosed with HPT. The remaining 10 patients had normal laboratory findings; however, a pathologically enlarged parathyroid gland was found at thyroidectomy. The overall cure rate for HPT within our series was 96%.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of concomitant HPT in patients with thyroid disease requiring surgery is significant at 5%. Recognition of concurrent disease is important, because it allows for a single definitive surgery to treat both pathologies.

Re-operation for hyperparathyroidism

INTRODUCTION

Re-operation for hyperparathyroidism (HPT) represents a challenge for experienced endocrine surgeons. The present study reviews the technical and pathological factors for failure of initial surgery and identifies strategies to approach re-operative parathyroidectomy.

METHODS

Clinical details, operation notes, pathology, localization studies and complications for re-operative cases performed by three surgeons were reviewed.

RESULTS

Over a 10-year period there were 40 re-operative cases with a 98% success rate. There were 31 patients with primary HPT, 21 with persistent primary (PP) and 10 with recurrent primary (RP). Multigland disease (MGD) was present in 19 of the 31 (61%) primary HPT cases. The culprit gland was ectopic in 14 cases, at a normal location in 10 and there was regrowth at previously excised sites or remnant disease in 10. There were nine patients with secondary HPT, four with persistent secondary (PS) and five with recurrent secondary (RS). The culprit gland was ectopic in five, at a normal location in four and regrowth at a previously excised site in two. Pre-operative investigations were employed in all cases and the most helpful were sestamibi scan (S) and selective venous sampling (SVS) for parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentration. True positive localizations for S was in 20 of 34 cases (59%), SVS in seven of nine (78%), computed tomography (CT) in seven of 17 (41%) and ultrasound scan (USS) in 10 of 28 (36%).

CONCLUSIONS

Re-operative parathyroidectomy can be performed by experienced surgeons with a very high success rate and minimal complications.

Persistent and recurrent hyperparathyroidism

More than 95% of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) will be cured at initial operation by an experienced surgeon. Despite this success rate, persistent and recurrent HPT remain challenging clinical entities. The most cost effective and safest treatment for persistent and recurrent HPT is avoidance by successful first operation. The contributors to treatment failure can be categorized into factors related to the initial surgical procedure, anatomic variability, and the biology of disease. An understanding of the factors that commonly contribute to treatment failure can help prevent persistent and recurrent disease and plays an integral role in planning subsequent surgical approaches. Once a biochemical diagnosis of persistent or recurrent HPT is confirmed, a thorough evaluation of previous operative, pathology, and radiology reports is essential. Localization procedures supplement this information and help direct the reoperative approach. When complementary noninvasive studies, such as ultrasound, sestamibi, and magnetic resonance imaging are negative, equivocal, or discordant, invasive tests (eg, selective venous sampling for parathyroid hormone levels) are warranted. Intraoperative ultrasound and gamma-probe localization are of questionable value, but intraoperative parathyroid hormone assays help facilitate these challenging repeat dissections. Repeat parathyroid exploration is associated with more complications and fewer cures compared to the initial explorations and should only be undertaken by an experienced surgeon in a center that can provide expert preoperative localization, adjunctive intraoperative tools, and cryopreservation of parathyroid tissue when necessary. Although controversy exists regarding indications for reoperative treatment for persistent or recurrent HPT, parathyroidectomy remains the only curative treatment option. Surgery should be considered first-line treatment in most circumstances.

Parathyroid hormone venous sampling prior to reoperation forprimary hyperparathyroidism

BACKGROUND

The surgical cure rate for primary hyperparathyroidismis greater than 95%. For those who have recurrent or persistent disease, preoperative localization improves reoperation success rates. Selective parathyroid venous sampling (SPVS) for intact parathyroid hormone is particularly useful when non-invasive localization techniques are negative or inconclusive.

METHODS

We present all known cases (n = 13)between 1994 and 2002 who had venous sampling for localization a tour institution prior to reoperation for recurrent or persistent primary hyperparathyroidism. Comparison was made with non-invasive localization procedures. Results of invasive and non-invasive localization were correlated with surgical findings.

RESULTS

Of the nine reoperated cases, eight had positive correlations between SPVS and operative findings and histopathology. SPVS did not reveal the parathyroid hormone source in one case with negative non-invasive localization procedures. Comparisons between SPVS,computerized tomography (CT), and parathyroid scintigraphy (MIBI)as expressed in terms of true positive (TP), false positive (FP)and false negative (FN) were: SPVS - TP88.8%, FP 0%, FN 11.1%; CT - TP22.2%, FP 22.2%, FN 55.5%; and MIBI - TP33.3%, FP 0%, FN 66.6%. At least seven of the nine operated cases have been cured; another remained normocalcaemic 2 weeks after subtotal parathyroidectomy.

CONCLUSION

In our institution SPVS has proven to be a valuable tool in cases with recurrent or persistent primary hyperparathyroidism and negative non-invasive localization procedures.

Independent genetic events associated with the development of multiple parathyroid tumors in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism

Multiple parathyroid tumors, as opposed to hyperplasia, have been reported in a subset of patients with sporadic primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). It is not clear whether these multiple tumors are representative of a neoplastic process or whether they merely represent hyperplasia that has affected the parathyroid glands differentially and resulted in asynchronous growth. The molecular genetic techniques of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), loss of heterozygosity (LOH), and MEN1 mutation analysis were performed on a series of five patients with multiglandular PHPT, each of which had two parathyroid tumors removed. Analysis of these multiple parathyroid tumors from patients with PHPT revealed that independent genetic events were associated with the development of a subset of these tumors. The DNA sequence copy number changes, identified by CGH analyses, either involved different chromosomal regions in the paired glands of a patient (two patients), or those regions implicated in one gland were not changed in a second gland from the same patient (two patients). Each of the three patients exhibiting LOH demonstrated different changes between the paired glands. Where LOH was detected in one gland from a patient, the other gland from the same patient either exhibited no allelic loss or the loss detected was in another region. Each of the three tumors exhibiting LOH at 11q13 was found to contain a somatic MEN1 mutation in the remaining allele, however these mutations were not present in the germline or in the paired gland from the same patient. Although it is possible that a separate series of genetic changes has arisen randomly in two separate glands within the same individual, it seems more likely that the development of these multiple tumors has arisen because of the involvement of other unknown factors. These factors may be genetic [such as the involvement of one or more germline mutations in an unknown low-penetrance gene(s), germline mosaicism or alterations in calcium-sensing receptor gene(s)], epigenetic, physiological, or environmental.

Dual phase 99m-technetium Sestamibi imaging with single photon emission computed tomography in primary hyperparathyroidism: influence on surgery

The purposes of this study were to determine the positive and negative predictive values of 99m Technetium (99mTc) Sestamibi dual phase imaging with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for parathyroid adenomata or hyperplasia and the effect of preoperative localization on duration of surgery. We reviewed 33 adults (14 men, 19 women; mean age 53 years) with newly diagnosed primary hyperparathyroidism who underwent neck exploration. The duration of surgery for this cohort was compared with a group of historical controls (n = 53) who underwent surgery without preoperative SPECT. At surgery, there were 21 adenomata (including one carcinoma), 10 patients with hyperplasia and two with no pathology detected. The positive predictive values (PPV) for adenomata and hyperplasia were 95% and 100%, respectively. The negative predictive values (NPV) for these entities were 67% and 22%, respectively. The mean weight of adenomata detected was 3.4 g (range 0.2-17 g). Mean duration of surgery was 112.6 min as compared with 113 min in the historical controls (P = not significant). We conclude that 99mTc Sestamibi dual phase imaging with SPECT has an excellent PPV for parathyroid adenomata and hyperplasia, but does not contribute to reduced duration of surgery in patients undergoing neck exploration for the first time. The NPV is low, suggesting that a negative result does not exclude an adenoma or hyperplasia.