Ultrasonography and Parathyroid Adenoma

Abstract
WE REPORT the cases of three patients in whom hyperparathyroidism was strongly suspected on clinical grounds and in whom ultrasonography of the neck showed the presence of a small mass near one of the lobes of the thyroid gland, which was believed to represent a parathyroid adenoma. All three patients underwent surgery, and the diagnosis and exact location of the adenoma was confirmed. Methods The ultrasound procedures were performed with a commercially available gray-scale ultrasound unit using a 5-MHz, 6-mm diameter, nonfocused transducer. The patients were examined in the supine position, with the neck hyperextended. Multiple transverse B scans were obtained from the level of the sternal notch superiorly in 0.5-cm intervals until thyroid tissue was no longer displayed (usually at the level of the larynx). Several longitudinal scans of each side of the neck were then obtained in 0.5-cm intervals. Report of Cases Case 1.— A 39-year-old man had