Clinical studies on phosphate handling in hypercalcaemia

Dynamic tests of parathyroid function for diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism in malignancy

Hypercalcaemia can be caused by malignant diseases as well as by primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT). The two disorders may occur together and an accurate discrimination between them is sometimes not possible from basal measurements of calcium and parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations. In primary HPT the regulation of PTH secretion is maintained, albeit the set-point is shifted to a hypercalcaemic value. Therefore, when serum calcium is lowered by ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) infusions or calcitonin injections, patients with primary HPT display enhanced secretion of PTH already within the hypercalcaemic range, whereas parathyroid function remains suppressed in malignancy-associated hypercalcaemia. Tests based on this principle enable a specific identification of HPT. The present report describes eight hypercalcaemic patients with disseminated malignancy where HPT could be diagnosed by the use of such stimulatory tests.

Evaluation of parathyroid function in patients with hypergastrinaemia and pernicious anaemia

In order to evaluate the possible causal relationship between raised serum gastrin levels and the development of primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) which is suggested from experimental studies we evaluated parathyroid function in a group of 32 patients with hypergastrinaemia and pernicious anaemia. The values for serum calcium and parathyroid hormone were determined as well as the fasting urinary excretions of cyclic AMP and calcium. There was no relationship between the serum gastrin levels and any of the other studied parameters and there was no consistent pattern suggesting parathyroid hyperfunction. A retrospective analysis of hospital records from 441 patients operated for primary HPT showed a prevalence of pernicious anaemia of 1.8%. This figure is higher than that found in the unselected age-matched population (0.31%). However, taken together this study does not support the hypothesis that hypergastrinaemia is of particular importance for the pathogenesis of primary HPT.