Primary hyperparathyroidism presenting as a palatal and mandibular brown tumor.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a fairly frequent pathologic diagnosis characterized by hypersecretion of parathyroid hormone, which results from adenomas in 80% to 85% of all cases. At clinical onset, the most common symptoms are hypercalcemia-related and some of them are pain due to kidney stones, polyuria, gastrointestinal, and neurologic disorders, whereas rarer symptoms are due to brown tumors and expansive lesions often found in fibrocystic osteitis. Brown tumors represent the terminal stage of the remodeling processes caused by an increased osteoclastic activity and fibroblastic proliferation during primary or secondary, albeit more seldom, hyperparathyroidism. The manifestation of primary hyperparathyroidism as skeletal disease has nearly disappeared in the last 2 decades. Cases are now most often diagnosed by the coincidental finding of asymptomatic hypercalcemia. Advanced screening techniques have made clinical evidence of bone disease rare. This article contains a case of brown tumor on the maxilla, palate, and mandible in addition to nephrectomy and proximal femur fracture, which are probably associated with primary hyperparathyroidism although less common nowadays. The diagnosis was suggested by the clinical history and confirmed by biochemical, radiologic, and histopathologic evidence. Excision of a parathyroid adenoma normalization of the metabolic status was then realized.