Minimally invasive removal of mediastinal ectopic parathyroid glands: A single-center experience

Pin Li Chou, Yin Kai Chao*, Yun Hen Liu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The last few years have seen the emergence of minimally invasive mediastinal parathyroidectomy. Here, we report our single-center experience with this procedure. Materials and Methods: Between December 2002 and September 2017, we performed minimally invasive mediastinal parathyroidectomy in 12 patients with primary (n = 4) or secondary (n = 8) hyperparathyroidism (median age: 54.5 years; interquartile range: 50.5 - 62.75 years). The following variables were retrospectively collected from clinical records: demographic characteristics, results of imaging studies, surgical approach, complications, and final pathological diagnosis. Results: Technetium-99 m sestamibi examinations were performed for preoperative localization of the ectopic parathyroid glands in 11 patients (91.67%). All cases successfully underwent minimally invasive mediastinal parathyroidectomy, without the necessity to convert to open surgery. The most commonly used minimally invasive approach was video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (n = 10; 83.33%) followed by mediastinoscopy (n = 2; 16.67%). The anatomical locations of the ectopic glands were as follows: intrathymic in six patients (50%), within the aortopulmonary window in 1 patient (8%), and in other intrathoracic sites in five patients (42%). Parathyroid adenomas and parathyroid hyperplasias were diagnosed in 5 (42%) and seven patients (58%), respectively. There were no perioperative deaths, and the median length of hospital stay was 5.5 days. Conclusion: Minimally invasive removal of mediastinal ectopic parathyroid glands is safe and feasible if their anatomical position is accurately determined. Surgical approaches depend on gland location and the surgeon's preference.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)6-10
Number of pages5
JournalZhonghua Minguo wai ke yi xue hui za zhi
Volume52
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 01 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Formosan Journal of Surgery | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow.

Keywords

  • Mediastinal parathyroid glands
  • minimally invasive surgery
  • video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

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