Five to 10 years follow-up after total parathyroidectomy and autotransplantation of parathyroid tissue: evaluation of parathyroid function by use of ischaemic blockade manoeuvre.

The aim of the present study was to assess the long-term function of autotransplanted parathyroid tissue in patients with chronic renal disease. We examined the medical records of a consecutive series of 21 patients with chronic renal failure, who had undergone total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation. During the time of follow-up, on average 79 months, one patient developed graft-dependent recurrent hyperparathyroidism and one patient suffered from persistent hypoparathyroidism. Nine of the patients were available for a clinical study. In these patients we measured the plasma concentration of intact PTH in blood from the arm contralateral to the graft-bearing arm at rest and during a short-lasting ischaemic blockade of the graft site from the circulating blood. At rest all nine patients had parathyroid hormone (PTH) values within the normal range. The ischaemic blockade produced a marked reduction in the plasma concentration of intact PTH in eight of the patients indicating well functioning autografts. Prior to the examination the patient with recurrent hyperparathyroidism had undergone resection of the autograft. In this patient, ischaemia of the former graft site did not cause any change in the concentration of PTH indicating normally functioning residual parathyroid tissue in the neck. Thus, the ischaemic blockade manoeuvre seems suitable for the assessment of autografted parathyroid tissue. Our results indicate that total parathyroidectomy with autotransplantation provides a rational alternative to the surgical treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism.