Hyperparathyroidism: Cancer and Mortality

Hyperparathyroidism is a commoner endocrinopathy today with a large number of asymptomatic patients in contrast to the scenario five decades ago. Surgery is indicated for patients fulfilling the NIH criteria who are mostly symptomatic while individuals with mild disease are managed conservatively. Several studies indicate increased risk of malignancy involving several sites and related mortality in primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) with the risk persisting for several years after surgery. PHPT is associated with structural & functional cardiac abnormalities and premature death from increased cardiovascular disease with risk normalising only several years after surgery. Mortality risk is associated with pre-operative serum calcium & parathormone and parathyroid adenoma weight. However, the issue of existence of similar risk and surgical benefit in mild PHPT is mired in controversy although some studies have shown an association and beneficial trends with surgery. With current evidence, it would be prudent to follow up PHPT patients for malignancy and cardiovascular disease and possibly adopt a more liberal attitude towards surgery.