OBJECTIVE To evaluate the accuracy of parathyroid gland identification and the need for routine frozen section examination before parathyroid autotransplantation during thyroidectomy. DESIGN A prospective case series. SETTING An endocrine surgical unit. PATIENTS From January 1, 1995, to December 31, 1997, parathyroid autotransplantation was attempted for devascularized or inadvertently re...

The parathyroid glands hold a special place in human anatomy, since they were the last major organ to be recognized by humans. The glands are recognized in all vertebrate animals higher than fish, and are derived from the pharyngeal pouches. The molecular signaling pathways that are involved in determining the differentiation of the glands are being elucidated. Studies in mice have demonstrated...

Since the first detailed description of the parathyroid glands, reported in human beings by Sandstrom in 1880, and Lever first described the ultrastructure of the parathyroid chief cells of rat in 1957, a large number of histological and ultrastructural studies have been done on the parathyroid glands of numerous animal species under normal and experimental conditions. The biological function o...

Several reports have been published on electron microscopic study of the parathyroid glands. Trier 1l described the fine structure of the parathyroid gland of the macaque monkey, Lever 2l 3l and Davis and Enders 'l made electron microscopic studies of the rat parathyroid under both normal and experimentally stimulated conditions, while Lange 5l and Holzmann and Lange 61 examined human parathyro...

Previously, radiologists played a limited role in the treatment of parathyroid disease, primary focusing on the preoperative localization of parathyroid lesions responsible for hyperparathyroidism. But, the widespread use of high-resolution ultrasound has lead to the increasing detection of parathyroid incidentalomas (PTIs). Consequently, radiologists may be required to differentiate PTIs from ...

BACKGROUND Parathyroid carcinoma, atypical parathyroid adenoma, and parathyromatosis can be differentiated relatively easily from typical parathyroid adenomas, but distinguishing them from each other is more difficult. METHODS A retrospective study of 28 consecutive patients with parathyroid carcinoma, 7 patients with atypical parathyroid adenoma, and 13 patients with parathyromatosis who wer...

Results: Of 179 attempted autotransplantations of parathyroid glands, parathyroid tissue was confirmed in 167 biopsy specimens (93.3%). Incorrect identification of parathyroid gland occurred in 12 instances. The tissue mistaken as parathyroid gland included fat in 6 cases, thyroid tissue in 4 cases, lymph node in 1 case, and thymus in 1 case. Transplantation of at least 1 parathyroid gland (ran...

Parathyroid carcinoma is an uncommon malignancy. Of the fewer than 400 cases reported, most have been cases of producing parathyroid carcinoma with accompanying hypercalcemia. Only 13 patients with nonproducing parathyroid carcinoma have been described. Nine of these 13 patients had metastatic disease. We report a patient with i.c. metastasis. Distal metastases of producing parathyroid carcinom...

An adult woman with pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism had a child with normal calcium and parathyroid hormone concentrations and cyclic AMP response to injected parathyroid hormone in infancy. By 2.5 years he had features of pseudohypoparathyroidism with raised parathyroid hormone and 'flat' cyclic AMP response. This is the first documented case of a change in parathyroid hormone responsiveness. T...

Unregulated overproduction of parathyroid hormone (PTH) from an abnormal parathyroid gland is the origin of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Patients who have an elevated serum calcium concentration have a problem in one or more of their parathyroid glands. To understand this disease state adequately and provide appropriate treatment, a thorough understanding of parathyroid embryology, anato...