Ectopic undescended left parathyroid adenoma: Diagnosed on ultrasound

Abstract

We report here a case of left ectopic undescended parathyroid nodule located high in the neck, at the angle of jaw which was diagnosed primarily on high-resolution color Doppler ultrasound imaging at our institution, followed by Sestamibi and computed tomography-single photon emission computed tomography (CT-SPECT) and surgery. A 41-year-old female having endometrial hyperplasia and planned for TAH + BSO. Her routine preoperative investigations showed serum calcium to be 13.0 mg/dL. Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) was 914.6 pg/mL and 25–OH Vitamin D 8.0 g/mL. Ultrasound neck with color Doppler localized an ectopic undescended left parathyroid adenoma located high in the neck just adjacent to the left submandibular gland. Sestamibi was suggestive of the left ectopic undescended parathyroid adenoma (below the pole of the left submandibular gland), confirmed further on CT-SPECT. The patient was operated and a 30 mm × 23 mm × 10 mm sized parathyroid adenoma was removed and confirmed on histopathology. A dedicated high-resolution color Doppler ultrasound has a great potential to localize the parathyroid nodules in all cases of raised serum PTH and must be utilized in all cases along with other imaging modalities.