Primary hyperparathyroidism is an endocrine disorder that results in overproduction of parathyroid hormone by overactivated parathyroid gland leading to a significant rise in blood serum calcium. It results in hypercalcaemia, which has a significant impact mainly on the kidneys and bones and results in a variety of signs and symptoms. Primary hyperparathyroidism should be treated because, if left without any therapy, it can lead even to death. Surgery is considered as the best and only successful therapy, with very low risk of recurrence and relatively low complication rate. The aim of this review is to present clinical basis, aetiology, diagnostic possibilities, and treatment opportunities.

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP) is a benign condition characterised by malignant potential. Even in specialist wards, 5-10% of operations for PHP are unsuccessful. The main reasons seem to be ectopy of the parathyroid gland, numerous adenomas, multiglandular parathyroid hyperplasia, and intrathyroid location of the parathyroid. The last three decades have witnessed a rapid progression in imaging diagnostics.

1. Patients with primary thyroid lymphomas should be approached individually using all available methods of treatment, including surgery and radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. 2. Diagnosis of cold nodules in patients with oncological history should always arouse suspicion of metastases to the thyroid gland. 3. Diagnosis of non-thyroid cancer prior to surgery is difficult to obtain. 4. The need for surgery is usually based on local compression.

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Non recurrent laryngeal nerve is a rare anatomical variation, occurring more frequently on the right side. Surgeon during surgery of the thyroid and parathyroid glands should be aware of its existence to avoid damage.

SummaryBackgroundThe inappropriate elevation of parathormone (PTH), which regulates the process of angiogenesis in parathyroid tissue, causes the changes of activity of enzymes responsible for the removal of free radicals. Parathyroidectomy (PTX) in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) lowers the level of PTH and leads to the reduction of risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality by normalization of the antioxidant status. Therefore, the aims of the study were to assess the activity of antioxidant enzymes and free radical reaction products in patients after parathyroidectomy, and to evaluate the correlation between the systemic oxidative stress and angiogenic parameters.Materials and methodsPatients with PHPT treated surgically were enrolled into the study. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidative status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ceruloplasmin (CER), lipid hydroperoxides (LHP) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured before and after parathyroidectomy. The immunohistological expression of angiogenic factors in parathyroid specimens was assessed by the BrightVision method from ImmunoLogic using murine monoclonal anti-human: anti-VEGF, anti-CD31 and anti-CD106 antibodies.ResultsThe significant increase of TAC, CER, reduction of TOS, MDA, SOD, especially for cytoplasmic form, and significant decrease of OSI, LHP were observed after PTX. There was no significant correlation between changes of oxidative stress markers and angiogenic parameters: VEGF, CD-31, CD-106 in parathyroid tissue. The correlation level was low and medium.ConclusionsParathyroidectomy causes down-regulation of lipid peroxidation processes and leads to reduction of oxidative stress in patients with PHPT. The decrease in the OSI is the results of down-regulation of oxidative stress in the postoperative period. The change of the antioxidant status has no impact on angiogenesis processes in parathyroid tissue.

changed parathyroid gland. The lack of localization of the parathyroid gland responsible for the symptoms of the disease in preoperative imaging tests translates into difficulties with intraoperative identification, which may influence the effectiveness of surgical treatment [3].The aim of the study is to assess the usefulness of intraoperative determination of PTH concentration in the fluid of fine-needle biopsy pathologically changed parathyroid glands for their identification and for evaluation of the effectiveness of surgical PHP treatment. The method we propose may complement the commonly used determination of PTH in peripheral blood serum.

Introduction: Multiglandular parathyroid disease (MGD) is an uncommon cause of primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) and has been reported in the literature in 8–33% of patients with pHPT. The aim of our study was to review the clinical characteristics and management of MGD and evaluation of surgical treatment failures. Methods: We performed a retrospective study of 163 patients with pHPT undergoing parathyroidectomy (PTX) at the Department of General and Endocrine Surgery between 1983 and 2018. All these patients were diagnosed with MGD. This group of patients was compared with a group of 856 patients with solitary disease operated for pHPT in the same period. Results: Among 163 patients—127 (79%) of them had two lesions, 28 (16%) had three, and 8 (5%) four. They were prevalently women over the age of 50. The diagnosis was based on PTH and ionized calcium studies and used sestamibi technetium-99m scintigraphy (MIBI) as well for us. Treatment was surgical. Conclusions: Parathyroidectomy (PTX) for multiglandular parathyroid disease (MGD) is associated with a higher operative risk of failure compared to solitary disease. Preoperative diagnosis and localization of the parathyroid glands is an extremely important element of treatment. Diagnosis is based on PTH and calcium levels. Ultrasonography (USG), MRI, and scintigraphy are very helpful in diagnosis. Mediastinal multiglandular parathyroid disease (MGD) is associated with increased surgical treatment failures. The treatment is surgical and consists of the removal of the masses or complete parathyroidectomy. Based on this study, we support the existence of multiple adenomas and advocate the removal of only macroscopically enlarged parathyroid glands in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.