West Germany: still an underdeveloped country in the diagnosis and early treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism?

Early diagnosis of asymptomatic patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (primary HPT) has been achieved in Scandinavia, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom during the last 20 years. Comparable results have been reported from some medical centers from West Germany; however, clinical manifestations were pronounced and patient symptoms were high in our population with primary HPT (N = 128) operated on at the University of Düsseldorf from April, 1986 to July, 1989. Only 19 patients (14.8%) were asymptomatic while the others suffered from nephrolithiasis (39%), osteopathy (32%), gastrointestinal disturbances (28.9%), and depression (11.7%). In 46 (35.9%) of our patients, the duration of these clinical symptoms exceeded 10 years, in 27 patients (21%) 15 years, and in 12 patients (9.3%) even 25 years. We, therefore, conclude that primary HPT is still a grossly underdiagnosed illness in parts of West Germany, presently, with patients suffering from severe clinical symptoms for more than 1-2 decades before definitive treatment.