High incidence of chronic hypoparathyroidism secondary to total thyroidectomy

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Hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) is a rare endocrine disorder characterised by absent or inappropriately low levels of circulating parathyroid hormone (PTH) [1-3]. The most common aetiology of HypoPT is iatrogenic injury to the parathyroid glands (PTG) during thyroid surgery, which accounts for approximately 75% of all cases [3-6]. Post-operative HypoPT results in hypocalcaemia, often within the first 24 hours, which can cause acute symptoms such as paraesthesia, muscle cramps and seizures [2, 3]. The risk that acute transient HypoPT becomes chronic is one of the main concerns when performing thyroid surgery. If patients with transient HypoPT return to normal parathyroid function, this normally occurs within a few weeks to six months [2, 4, 7, 8]. A recent meta-analysis by Edafe et al [6] reported the incidence of transient and chronic HypoPT to fall in the 19-38% and 0-3% range, respectively. Other authors have claimed that the true incidence of chronic HypoPT is underestimated [2], as it is reported to be much higher in more recent studies (2-17.4%), including in Danish reviews [5, 8-12]. No standardised definition of HypoPT is used among the studies.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberA11190647
JournalDanish Medical Journal
Volume67
Issue number5
Number of pages5
ISSN2245-1919
Publication statusPublished - 2020

ID: 317374288