Resection of parathyroid tumor in the aorticopulmonary window without prior neck exploration.

Of 522 patients with hyperparathyroidism operated on from 1973 to 1987 at our institution, there were seven (1.3%), each with an ectopic, hyperfunctioning mediastinal parathyroid adenoma, who required median sternotomy. In three of these seven patients, the tumor was located in the aorticopulmonary window. A 61-year-old woman with primary hyperparathyroidism had a preoperative thallium-technetium subtraction scan that showed thallium uptake at the base of the heart without any uptake in the neck. After further workup and without prior neck exploration, a parathyroid adenoma was found in the aorticopulmonary window through a median sternotomy. Six months later, serum calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone values remain normal. Two other cases of parathyroid adenoma in the aorticopulmonary window are presented. Of these two patients, the thallium scan was a key element in the immediate mediastinal exploration of one, who was transferred from another hospital comatose and intubated, in acute hypercalcemic crisis. Since mediastinal parathyroid tumors that necessitate median sternotomy occur in less than 2% of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, we do not advocate routine preoperative localization studies before an initial cervical operation; localization, however, may be justified in selected cases, such as in critically ill patients or in instances of acute hyperparathyroidism, when the first operation needs to be curative.