PARATHYROID ADENOMA

also called osteitis fibrosa cystica, or von Recklinghausen's disease of bone uncommon disorder characterized by loss of mineral materials from the skeleton, the development of brown cystic bone tumours and of kidney stones, and progressive kidney insufficiency. Increase in the number (hyperplasia) of secretory cells of one or more of the parathyroid glands results in an excess of parathormone in the circulation. The action of parathormone removes calcium from the bones; the calcium may then be deposited elsewhere, as in kidney stones. Symptoms include chronic tiredness and sleepiness, weakness, loss of appetite, constipation, nausea, thirst, and sometimes personality changes. Pain accompanies weakening of bones, and in 25 percent of cases so-called brown tumours develop in the ends of long bones; pathological fractures are not uncommon. The teeth become loose in their sockets, and the lamina dura, or compact bone lining of the sockets, disappears. The disease is twice as frequent in women as in men and usually begins in middle age. Persons with preexisting peptic ulcers are more likely to develop hyperparathyroidism. Treatment usually includes surgical excision of the hyperplastic parathyroid.