Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is a common disease prevailing in females (F). Male (M) forms are rare and their impact on the body is less studied than in females. Our aim is to see if male HPT is more or less aggressive than the female one.

Subjects and methods: It is a retrospective study that took in account 62 HPT (46F, 16M) over a period of 7 years (2005–2012). All were questioned, examined, and had routine analyses, biological assessment based on PTH, blood and urinary calcium (ca), and phosphorous (P). Plain X-ray, ultrasounds, intravenous urography, and MIBI scintigraphy were done too. For statistical analyses Student’s t-test and χ² were performed for comparison. The difference was considered as significant if P<0.05.

Results: Mean age was equal to 53 for F and 46 for M (P=0.10). Women consulted for bone problems in 47 vs 12.5% for men (P=0.01). Kidney abnormalities were observed in 21% F and 31% M (P=0.66). Mean ca=101 vs 111 mg/ml, P=0.21; phosphorous=29.8 vs 37.5 mg/l, P=0.57; PTH=291 vs 320 pg/ml, P=0.59. Bone problems were evident in 50% F and 58% M, but P=0.54. Kidney impact was observed in 21.7% F and 31% M, P=0 .37. Primary HPT=55% in F, 68% in M, but P=0.31. Secondary HPT was found in 45% F vs 31.25% in M, but P=0.31. Parathyroid adenomas were located in the inferior glands (50% right, 50% left) in F vs indifferent locations for M.

Conclusion: In this study where male HPT are less frequent than women’s, we observed that women suffer more than men from their bones, probably because of the additional menopause and vitamin D deficiency, but statistical analysis did not show any objective difference between men and women forms.