Primary hyperparathyreosis: is concordant sonography and scintigraphy really so important?

Background: In primary hyperparathyreosis, US and scintigraphy are the most usual preoperative localization methods for detection of parathyroid adenomas or hyperplasia.

Results: 88 (80 female) patients were detected. Unilateral neck exploration was performed in 43 patients (48.9 %) and bilateral exploration in 45 patients (51.1 %). The cure rate was 97.6 %. None case of parathyroid hyperplasia was detected, there were 2 cases of duplex adenoma. For left/right and quadrant localization, sensitivity of US was 71.05 % and 55.07 %, of scintigraphy 95.77 % and 88.71 %, and in concordant imaging 97.67 % and 96.77 %. Analogically, PPV was: US 91.53 % and 76.00 %, scintigraphy 87.18 % and 74.32 %, concordant imaging 93.33 %and 81.08 %. Only US sensitivity was significantly lower, all other differences showed no statistical significance.

Conclusion: Our data showed low sensitivity but a high positive predictive value of ultrasonography and a high diagnostic value of scintigraphy. Sensitivity and the positive predictive value of concordant localization showed no significant difference, compared to scintigraphy. The routine need for concordance for parathyroid adenoma localization appears dubious, however, its value for prediction of multiglandular disease remains important for protocols that do not apply peroperative localization (Tab. 2, Ref. 35).