Prospective evaluation of ultrasonography plus MIBI scintigraphy in selecting patients with primary hyperparathyroidism for unilateral neck exploration under local anaesthesia

Background Unilateral neck exploration (UNE) is currently replacing conventional bilateral neck exploration with cervicotomy for the surgical treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). However, many concerns still exist about the indications and the effectiveness of this minimally invasive approach. Methods Prospective evaluation of operative results in consecutive patients having indications for UNE on the basis of strict selection criteria consisting of ultrasound–MIBI agreement in adenoma localization, absence of thyroid disease, and psychological suitability for undergoing a procedure under local anesthesia. No intraoperative confirmation study was adopted. Results Among 149 consecutive PHPT patients, 45 (30.2%) had indications for UNE. No operative morbidity or mortality was observed. Mean operative time for the UNE procedure was 42 minutes (range 25 to 57). Conversion to general anesthesia was chosen for 5 patients (11.1%), whereas conversion to bilateral neck exploration was chosen for 3 patients (6.6%). For the UNE procedure, the success rate was as high as 91.7%. When the only factor indicated UNE, ultrasound–MIBI localization agreement had low sensibility (44.1%) and specificity (55.6%) but a high positive predictive value (91.1%). Conclusions We concluded that UNE performed under local anesthesia, without intraoperative confirmation studies, could be considered a safe and effective approach to treating patients with PHPT, but we regret the low rate of patients selected for this procedure because of the low sensitivity of the imaging-inclusion criterion.