Albumin excretion rate, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and kidney volume in obese patients and normal-weight controls were compared with body mass index (weight (kg)/height2 (m)) in 17 subjects. Body mass index varied from 21.5 to 48.0, the albumin excretion rate from 2.8 to 17.8 micrograms/min, and the kidney volume from 238 to 468 ml. Body mass index correlated significantly with albumin excretion rate and with kidney volume (p < 0.01), but not with the GFR. Neither the body mass index nor the albumin excretion rate showed any correlation with blood pressure. Albumin excretion rate in obese subjects could be as good an early predictor of complications as it is in patients with diabetes mellitus, and in the elderly.

Brown tumors are benign osteolytic lesions, which usually respect the bone cortex. Since these lesions may resemble bone metastases, it is important to consider them as a potential differential diagnosis. They occur as a result of increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion mainly due to primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism. We present a case of multiple osteolytic lesions incidentally found on X-ray examinations in a patient, who had a radius fracture after a low-energy trauma. Due to the suspicion of multiple bone metastases, one of them mimicking sequels after a pathological fracture in the ulna, the patient had a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan performed supporting the existence of pervasive bone lesions without suggesting a primary malignancy. The blood samples showed highly elevated ionized calcium and PTH levels. Therefore, an ultrasound examination and parathyroid scintigraphy were performed, revealing a hyperfunctioning parathyroid adenoma. After removal of the adenoma, the PTH level normalised and the bone changes regressed without surgical intervention.