Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 May 2014
We report a case of a patient with symptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism who was found, through a thorough radiological investigation, to also have papillary and medullary thyroid carcinomas.
A 59-year-old female was diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism. A further radiological investigation found suspicious areas within both thyroid lobes that were later diagnosed as foci of papillary and medullary thyroid carcinomas. Appropriate treatment was commenced. Reports of similar occurrences of synchronous thyroid and parathyroid pathologies are discussed.
To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of two synchronous thyroid cancers occurring in the context of primary hyperparathyroidism. We strongly recommend a thorough radiological investigation of all patients with primary hyperparathyroidism to prevent missing concurrent thyroid cancers.