An unusual cause of hypercalcemic crisis: Water-clear cell double parathyroid adenoma

Severe hypercalcemia secondary to parathyroid adenoma: Series of four consecutive cases at a tertiary care hospital in Qatar

INTRODUCTION

In most cases of parathyroid adenoma (PA), it is not palpable and physical examination shows no remarkable findings. Hence diagnosis requires an index of suspicion. The current paper describes four cases of severe hypercalcemia secondary to PA.

PRESENTATION OF CASES

Case 1 - 29 years old Sudanese female with history of nausea/vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite and bone aches. She had large palpable left lower neck swelling, and high calcium and PTH. Ultrasound (US) neck and SPECT/CT scan after sestamibi injection showed left inferior PA. Case 2-73 years old Sudanese male referred with history of abdominal pain and flatulence. He had severely high calcium, elevated parathormone (PTH), and high 24-hour urine calcium. US and SPECT/CT showed a left inferior PA. Case 3-54 years old Bangladeshi male, referred with history of renal colic/urolithiasis. Laboratory results showed severely high calcium and PTH levels. US and SPECT/CT scan showed right inferior PA. Case 4-35 years old Tunisian female, 12 weeks pregnant, referred with recurrent nausea and vomiting of increasing frequency from the second week of pregnancy. Laboratory tests revealed severe hypercalcemia and high PTH. US showed two parathyroid lesions.

DISCUSSION

The patients were admitted as emergency cases and investigations diagnosed severe hypercalcemia secondary to PA. All patients underwent neck exploration and PA excision. Histology confirmed PA. The four cases were swiftly assessed and treated before progressing into the more serious hypercalcemic crisis which can lead to grave consequences, particularly in the case of the pregnant female. All patients recovered with no complications and were clinically well with normal calcium level on follow up.

CONCLUSION

Severe hypercalcemia must be swiftly and thoroughly assessed to prevent the more serious hypercalcemic crisis. Clinicians need to be suspicious of parathyroid adenoma as a probable cause. Severe hypercalcemia is often accompanied with vomiting, and in pregnant females, this could be mistaken for hyperemesis gravidarum. Excision of the parathyroid adenoma treats the condition and follow up of serum calcium and PTH confirms the favorable outcome of surgery.

Double water-clear cell parathyroid adenoma: a case report and literature review

Water-clear cell parathyroid adenoma is an uncommon cause of primary hyperparathyroidism. Herein, we report an interesting case of a 56-year-old man who presented with weight loss, bone pain, fatigue, and a palpable right neck mass. Laboratory tests indicated hypercalcemia, elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, and normal thyroid function. Further examinations detected osteoporosis and kidney stones. The ultrasound of neck revealed bilateral extrathyroidal tumors, which were sestamibi-avid. The patient underwent resection of the large right inferior and left inferior parathyroid tumors. Histopathology revealed a double water-clear cell parathyroid adenoma. His serum calcium and PTH levels normalized after surgery. The literature review identified 37 cases of water-clear cell parathyroid adenoma between 1985 and 2021. The median age at diagnosis was 56 years. Classic complications were common, including nephrolithiasis in nine and skeletal presentations in 10 patients. Before surgery, the median calcium and PTH levels were 12.0 mg/dL and 290 pg/mL, respectively. Overall, 89% were localized on ultrasonography, and 60% were positive on scintigraphy. Four patients had double adenomas. The median maximum diameter was 3.8 cm, and the median weight of the resected adenoma was 5.27 g. In summary, water-clear cell parathyroid adenoma has certain unique features. These include larger tumor size, relatively indolent biochemical profile, high prevalence of complications and nonspecific symptoms, an isoechoic appearance on ultrasonography, and reduced scintigraphic sensitivity.

Water clear cell ectopic non-iatrogenic giant parathyroid adenoma in sternohyoid muscle with thyroid nodule and asymptomatic hypercalcemia due to primary hyperparathyroidism: Case report and literature review

Background

Ectopic parathyroid gland is not uncommon, and is associated with primary hyperparathyroidism. Giant parathyroid adenoma (PA) and concurrent presence of enlarged thyroid nodule increases the probability of ectopic location. The combination of a giant PA that is ectopic (within the strap muscle) in the neck is very rare, especially in cases with no previous surgery. The rare histopathological findings of the current case, water clear cell parathyroid adenoma (WCCPA), could explain the patient's presentation, since it has low endocrine function.

Case presentation

A 56-year-old Qatari female on routine visit to primary health care physician for hypertension, was incidentally discovered to be hypercalcemic and was referred to the emergency department of our institution. Neck ultrasound showed a thyroid nodule on the left side, but ^99mTc-sestamibi scintigraphy identified a left PA. FNAC of the thyroid nodule showed that it was a colloid nodule. She underwent left hemithyroidectomy and excision of left PA. Intraoperatively, the PA was giant and in the sternohyoid muscle. Intraoperative monitoring of intact PTH (IOiPTH) confirmed successful excision.

Discussion

Ectopic giant parathyroid adenoma is rare especially with the intramuscular location in sternohyoid muscle in the neck without previous neck surgeries. The presence of thyroid nodule could be a precipitating factor for migration of the PA. Preoperative assessment with the radiological image is crucial for diagnosis but sometimes fail to localized the PA.

Conclusion

Giant asymptomatic PA with long standing low function before hyperfunctioning should raise the suspicion of WCCPA. If diagnosis is confirmed, metastasis from a clear cell renal cell carcinoma should be ruled out.

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We report a unique rare case of non-iatrogenic ectopic giant water clear cell parathyroid adenoma (WCCPA)

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A parathyroid adenoma >3.5 gm, asymptomatic and with low function before hyperfunctioning, should raise suspicion of WCCPA.

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History, examination, ultrasound, sesta-MIBI scintigraphy and immunohistochemical studies are important for diagnosis.

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High preoperative parathyroid hormone and calcium need monitoring in post-operative period to avoid hypocalcemia.

Institutional characterisation of water clear cell parathyroid adenoma: a rare entity often unrecognised by TC-99m-sestamibi scintigraphy

Parathyroid lesions exhibiting a water clear cell morphology are exceedingly rare manifestations in primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), and the phenomenon has been reported both for uniglandular (water clear cell adenoma; WCCA) and multiglandular disease (water clear cell hyperplasia; WCCH). In all, only 24 previous descriptions of WCCA exist in the literature. Herein, we present seven cases with water clear cell morphology (6 WCCAs and 1 case of WCCH) in an institutional series of approximately 4000 parathyroid lesions spanning 29 years in a tertiary centre setting. Major histological attributes and clinical parameters associated with this morphological subtype were reviewed, and a literature search was conducted. WCCA and WCHH exhibited an institutional prevalence of 0.15% and 0.025%, respectively. All cases displayed histological hallmarks of water clear cell morphology, with cells exhibiting abundant cytoplasm filled with vacuoles. Atypical findings or unequivocal evidence of invasive behaviour were not observed. The gender distribution was 6:1 (F:M), patients were generally symptomatic with mild hypercalcaemia, and the median age at surgery was 53 years (range 38-78). The preoperative localisation was inconclusive in four of seven, and neck exploration of all four glands was undertaken in five cases. The excised WCCAs exhibited an average weight of 1215 mg, markedly higher than conventional adenomas, and all patients were cured of PHPT following parathyroidectomy. Interestingly, previous reports mirror our observations that these lesions often are large, in relation to their sizes biochemically fairly indolent, and indecisively localised using scintigraphy, providing correlations of possible clinical value when pre-operatively assessing these rare lesions.