Treatment indications of mild primary hyperparathyroidism in old age; a challenge for research

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is common in older people, but it does not usually develop classical symptoms or long-term complications in the last years of life. The non-specific symptoms are often indistinguishable from age-related complaints and illnesses, and the patients are generally left in surveillance. Trials are needed to show, whether the non-classical symptoms of PHPT so far deemed as contraindications are rather indications for treatment in old age.