Arterial blood pressure, serum calcium and PTH in elderly men with parathyroid tumors and primary hyperparathyroidism.

In patients with parathyroid tumors and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), the relationship between arterial blood pressure (BP) and both serum calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a correlation exists between BP and the main biochemical parameters in men with confirmed sporadic PHPT due to a solitary parathyroid adenoma. A series of 38 elderly (>64 years) men (median age 69 years, range 65-78 years) were enrolled in the study. Twenty-nine (76.3%) were asymptomatic, while 9 (23.7%) had renal diseases (i.e. renal stones, impaired renal function). The main preoperative biochemical parameters were the following: serum calcium=2.77±0.25 mmol/l, PTH=166.5±157.0 ng/l, alkaline phosphatase (ALP)=107.6±37.0 U/l, and creatinine=82.5±8.1 μmol/l. In each patient, the BP was recorded three times at 2-3 min intervals using an automatic device, and the mean values were recorded. All patients successfully underwent parathyroidectomy. As expected, there was a significant relationship between age and both systolic and diastolic BP (β=0.39, p=0.018; β=0.41, p=0.014, respectively). There was also a correlation between systolic and diastolic BP (β=0.39, p=0.01) and between serum calcium and PTH (β=0.51, p=0.008). A weak relationship (β=0.28, p=0.04) between serum calcium and creatinine was also found. However, no significant relationship between systolic or diastolic BP and serum calcium (β=0.012, p=0.94; β=0.065, p=0.71) or PTH (β=0.08, p=0.65; β=0.17, p=0.32), respectively, was observed. In conclusion, our study confirms that in men with parathyroid tumors and PHPT, the BP values are independent of both serum calcium and PTH levels.