The use of positron emission tomography with ¹¹C-methionine in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism

Excerpt

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common endocrine disorder, which is nowadays often discovered incidentally by the finding of increased serum calcium and PTH in routine blood tests [1]. PHPT is due to a single adenoma in the majority of cases (85–90 %), whereas hyperplasia of all parathyroid glands occurs in 10–15 % and carcinoma is found in less than 1 %. PHPT may occur sporadically or as a part of hereditary forms [2]. Pathological parathyroid glands are mainly located close to the thyroid gland, but ectopic localization in the mediastinum, or lateral to the carotid sheath, in the carotid bifurcation and very rarely within the thyroid or the thymus may occur in up to 20 % of cases [3]. …