Primary hyperparathyroidism in Thai children: case series and literature review
Article Category: Clinical report
Online veröffentlicht: 31. März 2017
Seitenbereich: 503 - 507
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.1005.514
Schlüsselwörter
© 2016 Piyawut Kreetapirom, Somchit Jaruratanasirikul
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Background
Primary hyperparathyroidism is a common disease in adults, but extremely rare in the pediatric age group. To our knowledge, pediatric primary hyperparathyroidism has never been reported in Thailand.
Objectives
To describe 3 cases of primary hyperparathyroidism presenting in Thai children with different clinical manifestations.
Methods
Cases of primary hyperparathyroidism in 3 Thai pediatric patients are reported herein, with a brief literature review.
Results
Three patients are described. The first patient, a 14-year-old Thai girl, presented with progressively worsening bowlegs and lordosis of the spine for 1.5 years. The second patient, a 15-year-old Thai boy, presented with a history of hip pain and constipation for 3 years. The third patient, an obese 11-year-old Thai boy, presented with acute abdominal pain, which was initially incorrectly diagnosed as acute pancreatitis.
Conclusions
The clinical symptoms of hyperparathyroidism in Thai children are nonspecific at an early stage of the disease. The diagnoses are usually delayed and the patients therefore suffer complications of long-term hypercalcemia such as bone deformities or renal nephrocalcinosis. We recommend initial laboratory screening in pediatric patients with nonspecific symptoms and complaints of persistent bone pain. Appropriate investigations to confirm or eliminate primary hyperparathyroidism should be made, as an early diagnosis can facilitate early treatment and prevent the organ damage that can result from delayed diagnosis.