Intracranial metastatic parathyroid carcinoma. Case report and review of the literature.

Parathyroid carcinoma (PTC) is a rare pathological entity, with fewer than 400 reported cases. Intracranial metastasis of a PTC is exceptional; only five other cases have been identified in the English literature. The authors present a unique case of a patient with a solitary intracerebral metastasis of a PTC in an individual presumed to have hereditary hyperparathyroidism who had concomitant papillary and follicular carcinomas of the thyroid. The literature relevant to the management of these rare lesions is reviewed and discussed.