Jaw enlargement complicating secondary hyperparathyroidism in three hemodialysis patients.

Over a period of two years we saw three patients with longstanding chronic renal failure in whom the size and shape of the jaws had gradually changed. Clinical, metabolic, and radiologic observations suggested that secondary hyperparathyroidism had caused the disfigurement, and bone histology supported this conclusion in each case. The appearance of our subjects resembled that of patients morbidly afflicted with osteitis fibrosa before its association with hyperparathyroidism was widely known. Jaw enlargement is a potential consequence of secondary hyperparathyroidism in dialysis patients.