Surgery improves quality of life in patients with “mild” hyperparathyroidism

BackgroundSurgical treatment of patients with “classic” hyperparathyroidism improves quality of life, but these benefits to patients with “mild” disease remain unclear.MethodsThe SF-36 Health Survey was administered to 174 patients 1 week before, 1 week after, and 1 year after undergoing parathyroidectomy.ResultsOne hundred fifty-one patients completed at least 2 surveys. There were 18 and 133 cases of “mild” and “classic” hyperparathyroidism, respectively. Preoperatively, the groups did not differ significantly in the 10 scales. One year after surgery, patients with “classic” and “mild” disease improved significantly in 9/10 and 10/10 scales, respectively (P < 0.05). Those with “mild” disease had a statistically larger improvement than those with “classic” disease in 4 scales.ConclusionsQuality of life significantly improved in surgically treated patients with both “mild” and “classic” hyperparathyroidism, supporting surgical treatment of “mild” hyperparathyroidism. Moreover, quality of life may improve more in patients with “mild” rather than “classic” disease.