Accuracy of Preoperative Pinhole Subtraction Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography for Patients with Primary and Recurrent Hyperparathyroidism in an Endemic Goiter Area

Bilateral parathyroid exploration is still the standard therapeutic procedure for primary and recurrent hyperparathyroidism (HPTH). Since a unilateral surgical strategy that reduces surgical complications should not increase the risk of missing enlarged parathyroid glands, reliable preoperative imaging is the first requirement for this approach. This study was conducted to assess the accuracy of preoperative (99m)TcO(4)-(201)T1 pinhole subtraction single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) compared with sonography.The study population consisted of 15 patients with primary (n = 13) or recurrent (n = 2) HPTH who underwent preoperative (99m)TcO(4)-(201)T1 pinhole subtraction SPECT. Preoperative sonography was also done in 14 of these patients.(99m)TcO(4)-(201)T1 pinhole subtraction SPECT was significantly more accurate than sonography. It had an overall accuracy of 80% in detection of enlarged parathyroid glands. The accuracy of localization increased to 92.3% in patients with solitary adenomas, and to 100% in those with solitary adenomas and no previous parathyroid exploration.The high accuracy of preoperative localization with (99m)TcO(4)-(201)T1 pinhole subtraction SPECT in patients with primary and recurrent HPTH allows for an imaging-guided unilateral operative strategy in most patients, even those with concomitant nodular goiters. This may reduce the risk of surgical complications and expand the use of minimally invasive techniques in parathyroid surgery.