Urinary cAMP excretion during surgery: an index of successful parathyroidectomy in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.

Urinary phosphate (Up) and urinary cAMP (UcAMP) excretion were determine in patients undergoing neck exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism in order to evaluate these parameters as indices of successful surgery. UcAMP fell below 1.5 micro mol/g creatinine in all 12 patients in whom single gland removal corrected hypercalcemia and in 0 of 3 patients in whom no parathyroid tissue was found. The mean time to drop below 1.5 was 2.0 +/- 0.8 h (mean /+- SD) from the time of parathyroidectomy. UcAMP fell below 1.5 in only 1 of 6 patients who had multiple enlarged parathyroid glands removed, irrespective of the outcome of surgery. Changes in Up excretion lagged behind UcAMP changes, so that within the time period studied Up fell to varying degrees in only 10 of 15 patients in whom hypercalcemia was corrected. A spurt in UcAMP excretion, possibly reflecting parathyroid hormone release due to manipulation of a parathyroid gland, occurred in 3 patients. The results suggest that an intraoperative fall in UcAMP below 1.5 predicts successful parathyroidectomy and that an intraoperative spurt in UcAMP may provide a clue to the location of abnormal parathyroid tissue.