شيوع موارد اكتوپيك غدد پاراتيروييد

Prevalence of Ectopic Parathyroid Glands

Background: The essence of parathyroid surgery is finding the diseased gland or glands. Even experienced surgeons have a small miss rate despite numerous preclinical localizing tecniques. The surgeonsʹ information about location of glands is the most important factor in finding them. The goal of anatomical research is to determin the location of glands and help improve surgeonsʹ information. Methods and Cases: To find ectopic cases of parathyroid glands this descriptive study which took 1.5 years was done on 100 cadavers which had been dissected for legal purposes. Obtained samples were dissected by classical method, and 871 tissue samples which were considered as parathyroid tissue were sent for pathological evaluation. Results: Four hundred-eleven tissue samples were diagnosed as parathyroid tissue. Forty-seven (11.5%) were ectopic. Seventeen ectopic glands were found in the postrosuperior part of the thyroid gland, 15 mediastinum and thymus, 8 in the posterior part of the esophagus and pharynx, and 7 in thyroid tissue. Seventeen percent of ectopic cases were in upper glands and 30% of ectopic glands were in lower glands (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Possibility of existence of ectopic cases of parathyroid glands in thyroid and mediastinum should be considered during thyroid surgery.