Successful ultrasonically guided percutaneous ethanol injection for secondary hyperparathyroidism.

Ultrasonically guided percutaneous ethanol injection to all of four enlarged parathyroid glands, which were confirmed by fine-needle aspiration biopsy, was successfully performed in a hemodialysis patient with secondary hyperparathyroidism. In addition to marked reduction of serum parathyroid hormone, the size of parathyroid glands was significantly decreased after the procedure. As an adverse effect, the patient experienced a transient self-limiting dysphonia due to right recurrent nerve palsy after the first injection. This procedure may be an effective alternative to surgical treatment or administration of high-dose 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D3 in uremic patients with sonographically verified multiple enlarged parathyroid glands.