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Aetiology

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Causes of primary hyperparathyroidism include:

  • solitary adenoma of parathyroid chief cells - most common cause and accounts for about 85% of cases
  • multiglandular parathyroid hyperplasia - responsible for 1-15% of cases with PHP
  • parathyroid carcinoma - rare and occurs in less than 1% of cases
  • ectopic adenomas e.g. - commonly the thymus, trachea-oesophageal groove, mediastinum, and the thyroid
  • drugs
    • certain drugs such as thiazide diuretics and lithium may also alter calcium homeostasis.
    • these drugs may unmask underlying primary hyperparathyroidism

Primary hyperparathyroidism may also be associated with uncommon familial disorders e.g. - multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and type 2A syndromes, familial hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumour syndrome, neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism and familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (1).

Reference:

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