Guidelines for the management of asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism: summary statement from the Fourth International Workshop

Abstract

Objective: Asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is routinely encountered in clinical practices of endocrinology throughout the world. This report distills an update of current information about diagnostics, clinical features, and management of this disease into a set of revised guidelines.

Participants: Participants, representing an international constituency, with interest and expertise in various facets of asymptomatic PHPT constituted four Workshop Panels that developed key questions to be addressed. They then convened in an open 3-day conference September 19-21, 2013, in Florence, Italy, when a series of presentations and discussions addressed these questions. A smaller subcommittee, the Expert Panel, then met in closed session to reach an evidence-based consensus on how to address the questions and data that were aired in the open forum.

Evidence: Preceding the conference, each question was addressed by a relevant, extensive literature search. All presentations and deliberations of the Workshop Panels and the Expert Panel were based upon the latest information gleaned from this literature search.

Consensus process: The expert panel considered all the evidence provided by the individual Workshop Panels and then came to consensus.

Conclusion: In view of new findings since the last International Workshop on the Management of Asymptomatic PHPT, guidelines for management have been revised. The revised guidelines include: 1) recommendations for more extensive evaluation of the skeletal and renal systems; 2) skeletal and/or renal involvement as determined by further evaluation to become part of the guidelines for surgery; and 3) more specific guidelines for monitoring those who do not meet guidelines for parathyroid surgery. These guidelines should help endocrinologists and surgeons caring for patients with PHPT. A blueprint for future research is proposed to foster additional investigation into issues that remain uncertain or controversial.

Figure 1.. Algorithm for monitoring patients with normocalcemic PHPT.