A Case Report of Parathyroid Cancer

Abstract

Parathyroid cancer is a relatively rare disease, accounting for less than 5 % of all cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. Due to its rarity, international standardization of the disease classification is currently in progress. In this report, we describe a case in which parathyroid cancer was suspected preoperatively and intraoperatively, treated, and finally diagnosed as parathyroid cancer.

The patient was an 84-year-old woman. She was aware of malaise and was diagnosed with hypercalcemia and high intact-PTH by the previous doctor. She was referred to our hospital for investigation and treatment. Cervical ultrasound showed a heterogeneous mass, 1.4×1.4×1.9 cm in size, irregular shape, well-defined borders, and low to moderate internal echogenicity on the dorsal side of the inferior right lobe of the thyroid gland, with a D/W ratio of 1.03. We considered the possibility of right inferior parathyroid carcinoma. Intraoperative findings showed that the mass was hard and the border between the mass and the thyroid gland was unclear, making it difficult to dissect. So, she underwent right inferior parathyroidectomy, partial thyroidectomy, and II and right III lymph node dissection. The final histopathological diagnosis was parathyroid carcinoma (pT1N0M0). As of 4 months after the surgery, no recurrence has been observed.