BACKGROUND: to evaluate the prevalence of incidental thyroid disease in patients with surgical indication due to PH. METHODS: Twenty patients with clinical and laboratorial evidence of HP underwent parathyroidectomy from January, 1998 to December, 2004. The casuistic included 15 women and 5 men, whose ages varied from 44 to 83. The criteria employed for the diagnosis of thyroid disease were clinical, laboratorial, through ultrasound-Doppler, cytopathological analysis of the fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), and intraoperatively. All patients had parathyroid adenoma, with two cases of double adenomas. RESULTS: The clinical examination showed palpation changes in 7 patients, with 5 surgical indications. The laboratorial evaluation presented thyroid function changes in 3 cases. Ultrasound-Doppler indicated thyroid nodular disease in 15 cases, but without impact on the surgical indication. The FNAB of the thyroid nodules was indicated in 9 patients, with 3 cases de papillary carcinoma. Intra-operative exploration did not add any finding to the ultrasound examination. CONCLUSION: The pathological association between thyroid and parathyroid diseases is not rare (75%). The ultrasound is the most sensible method. However, clinical examination and FNAB have a higher impact upon the surgical indication on the thyroid gland during the parathyroid approach.
Hyperparathyreoidism; Parathyroid glands; Thyroid diseases; Surgery