Pathology Quiz Case 2

Incidentally discovered parathyroid lipoadenoma in thyroid surgery: A case report and review of the literature

“…Parathyroid lipoadenomas are rare and are incidentally detected during thyroid cancer surgery in this case. The article reports 40 cases of parathyroid lipoadenoma reported in PubMed from 1962 to date using the search terms “parathyroid lipoadenoma” and “parathyroid lipoadenoma”, 1 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 of which 65 cases of parathyroid lipoadenoma were reported (including this case). After excluding 18 cases with missing clinical data, 47 cases had complete clinical data, including 30 females and 17 males, with a female‐to‐male ratio of about 1.8:1, that is, parathyroid lipoadenoma accounted for a higher proportion in females than in males.…”

Atypical primary hyperparathyroidism due to parathyroid lipoadenoma: a case report

“…SPECT reported a sensitivity of 89–95% in typical parathyroid proliferations, but in parathyroid lipoadenomas sensitivity is markedly decreased because of low concentration of parathyroid cells and the excess amount of adipose stroma. The presence of excess fat does indeed change the imaging characteristics of this type of adenoma, making them more difficult to localize [ 5 ].…”

“…Parathyroid lipoadenoma is a very rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism, which can cause difficulties in the diagnostic and therapeutic management [ 2 , 3 ]. Due to the high adipose tissue content, preoperative imaging techniques often fail to detect lipoadenomas [ 2 , 4 , 5 ]. Sometimes it can be seen as a hyperechoic lesion on ultrasound or localized as lipoma-resembling lump on computed tomography (CT), although usually only retrospectively.…”