Parathyroid Disorders of Pregnancy

Abstract

Diseases of the parathyroid gland are uncommon in women of childbearing age. However, total serum calcium is lower in normal pregnancy, but ionized serum calcium remains within normal limits. Serum parathyroid levels are slightly decreased in the second half of pregnancy. Primary hyperparathyroidism, if unrecognized, may increase maternal and fetal morbidity, which is related to the level of serum calcium. The most common cause is a single parathyroid adenoma, accounting for about 80% of cases. Maternal complications include acute pancreatitis, hypercalcemia crisis, and toxemia. An increased incidence of prematurity and neonatal hypocalcemia has been reported when maternal hypercalcemia is significantly elevated. Other causes of hypercalcemia are rare in pregnancy. Hypoparathyroidism is seldom seen in pregnancy; the most common cause is after surgical throidectomy. The doses of vitamin D and calcium do not change during pregnancy; however, hypercalcemia may develop in the postpartum period. Serum calcium should be determined at every trimester of pregnancy and at regular intervals after delivery, and in a significant number of patients, the dose of vitamin D should be reduced. Osteoporosis has been recognized most frequently in the last few years. It appears that those patients with a family history of osteoporosis and those on heparin therapy have a tendency to develop symptoms of the disease in pregnancy. Finally, lactation is not contraindicated in women with osteoporosis; although there is a slight decrease in bone density in the few months after delivery, this is a transient event and bone densitometry returns to prepregnancy levels in most women. Recent studies indicate that there is no need for calcium therapy during lactation with few exceptions, such as lactating adolescents, mothers nursing more than one child, and mothers with closely-spaced pregnancies.