Monocentric experience of primary hyperparathyroidism surgery in Algeria

INTRODUCTION: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) remains a relatively underdiagnosed disease in developing countries. The aim of this study was to assess the demographic, pathological, biochemical, and surgical characteristics of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism in a university hospital department of otolaryngology in eastern Algeria. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We performed a retrospective analysis of the records of 62 patients operated in our department for primary hyperparathyroidism between January 2002 and December 2013. RESULTS: The mean age was 47.7 ± 15 years with a female preponderance (88.7%). The mode of discovery was during a biological assessment for bone syndrome in 42% of cases. The mean calcemia was 2.92 ± 0.6 mmol/L, and the intact serum parathyroid hormone was 867.78 ± 954.50 pmol/L. A total of 54.8% of patients had bilateral neck exploration, and 45.2% had minimally invasive open parathyroidectomy. Postoperative complications were dominated by severe hypocalcemia and hungry bone syndrome. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism in our country is late, and management is often performed after the appearance of bone and renal complications.