Cardiovascular risk factors in primary hyperparathyroidism: a 15-year follow-up of operated and unoperated cases.

The need for treatment of mild and apparently asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is questioned, but a raised incidence of cardiovascular disease has been regarded as evidence in favour of surgery. While it is well known that several risk factors for cardiovascular disease (hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and diabetes mellitus/impaired glucose tolerance) are overrepresented in HPT, it is not known whether surgery provides long-term normalization in these respects and reduces the risk of premature death. In a 15-year follow-up of a cohort of 172 subjects in whom mild hypercalcaemia was initially detected during a health screening, it was found that 56 subjects had died. 17 individuals had been operated on for HPT, 47 individuals were persistently hypercalcaemic, while 45 subjects had serum calcium within the normal range (seven individuals were lost to follow-up). There had been no significant differences in blood pressure between these groups of mildly hypercalcaemic patients and age- and sex-matched controls at the initial screening, but at follow-up blood pressure was significantly higher not only in subjects with persistent hypercalcaemia, but also in those who had been successfully operated on for HPT. Neither of the hypercalcaemic groups showed any significant deviations from the controls with regard to indices of lipid or glucose metabolism. These findings suggest that there is no simple cause-and-effect relationship to account for the propensity toward high blood pressure in primary HPT. Consequently it cannot be assumed that surgery for HPT will eliminate the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with mild HPT.