Long-term effects of surgery for normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism.

A retrospective study of the long-term effects of surgery for normocalcaemic hyperparathyroidism in 82 patients is presented. The median postoperative follow-up time was 96 months. In most of the patients recurrent renal calculi had been the main preoperative symptom, and intermittent peaks of hypercalcaemia were recognized in more than 50% of them. Of the 19 patients with severe tendency to calculus formation, 12 appeared to have been cured by parathyroidectomy. These cured patients were found at operation to have parathyroid adenoma or hyperplasia, or even normal glands. Preoperatively depressed renal function normalized in about 50% of cases, as assessed by the desmopressin test. No patient had paralysis of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, and all were normocalcaemic during follow-up. Parathyroid surgery should be considered for this category of patients, although it is very difficult to distinguish between those who stand to benefit and those who do not.