[Intraoperative blood sampling for parathyroid hormone measurement during total parathyroidectomy and autotransplantation in patients with renal hyperparathyroidism].

Normalisation of intact parathyroid hormone serum level confirms sufficient resection of parathyroid tissue after total parathyroidectomy in patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism. The short half-life of the intact parathyroid hormone is such that complete resection may even be confirmed by intraoperative monitoring of the hormone, and operative exploration thus reduced. We tested intact parathyroid hormone serum levels in 9 patients during total parathyroidectomy, preoperatively, after the removal of each gland, after autotransplantation and 1 month postoperatively. The serum levels of the intact parathyroid hormone were significantly reduced after removal of each gland. The total percentage decrement after parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation was 77%. However intact parathyroid hormone levels had normalised in all patients one month after the operation. The absence of perioperative normalisation of intact parathyroid hormone serum levels in our patients cannot be defined as a predictor of incomplete resection in total parathyroidectomy. The definition of an intraoperative cut-off-level concerning the decrement of intact parathyroid hormone levels remains to be proven in further studies.