Concomitant thyroid disease in hyperparathyroidism. Reasons for unsatisfactory ultrasonographical localization of parathyroid glands.

Ultrasonic localization of enlarged parathyroid glands has been attempted in a consecutive series of 23 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. Seven of 15 patients with operatively verified diagnosis, had predictive ultrasound scans (47% consistency) and 10 of 16 adenomas were identified (63%). A possible explanation for these unsatisfactory results could be a high incidence of coexisting nodular thyroid lesions, and significantly enlarged thyroid glands in these patients.