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Case Reports
. 2022 Apr 13;16(1):150.
doi: 10.1186/s13256-022-03401-y.

Giant parathyroid adenoma: a case report

Rahim Mahmodlou  1 , Amin Sedokani  2 , Apameh Pezeshk  3 , Bita Najafinejad  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Giant parathyroid adenoma: a case report

Rahim Mahmodlou et al. J Med Case Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Giant parathyroid adenoma is a type of parathyroid adenoma weighing > 3.5 g and having a size of more than 2 cm.

Case presentation: This report describes giant primary parathyroid adenoma with reference to the literature. We report the case of a 48-year-old Persian man referred to the clinic with knee and lower back pain. He had a history of mitral valve replacement and several episodes of bilateral nephrolithiasis. After a thorough assessment, a neck mass with a possible thyroid origin was detected, but further assessment showed it was of parathyroid origin. The resected mass was 9 × 6× 4 cm and weighed 122 g, and histopathology showed a giant parathyroid adenoma.

Conclusion: Giant parathyroid adenomas that weigh more than 110 g and are larger than 8 cm can lead to significant hypercalcemia. Despite giant parathyroid adenomas and high parathyroid hormone levels, a calcium crisis may not always occur in these patients, and the masses may be initially misdiagnosed as a thyroid mass.

Keywords: Bone pain; Giant parathyroid adenoma; Hypercalcemia; Parathormone.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Computed tomography scans of the lower neck (right) and upper mediastinum (left) showing a vast mass pushing the trachea out of the midline
Fig 2
Fig 2
Surgical view of the mass obscuring the thyroid gland (right) and dissection (left)
Fig 3
Fig 3
Histopathological view of the resected mass in favor of parathyroid adenoma
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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