Management of a Parathyroid Adenoma With Radiofrequency Ablation: A Case Report

The standard treatment for symptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism due to parathyroid adenoma is surgery, but in patients who are not good candidates for surgery, other treatment modalities including ethanol ablation, laser ablation, ultrasound wave ablation, and radiofrequency ablation are used. We describe a patient with multiple medical problems and a parathyroid adenoma who was treated with radiofrequency ablation.
A 47-year-old patient was referred to our hospital (Namazi hospital, Shiraz, Iran) in April, 2015 with intracranial hemorrhage, as well as high serum calcium and PTH (parathyroid hormone) levels (12.1 mg/dL and 1062 pg/mL, respectively), who had a parathyroid adenoma. Radiofrequency ablation was performed for the patient after he was stabilized, and three days later, his serum calcium and PTH levels decreased to 8.9 mg/dL and 38 pg/mL, respectively, and there was abnormal uptake according to the post-ablation parathyroid scan. The patient was followed for 12 months in our endocrine clinic, during which time he was in good general condition, with normal serum calcium, phosphate, and parathyroid hormone levels.
Radiofrequency ablation may be used successfully in the treatment of parathyroid adenoma when a patient cannot tolerate surgery.