[Multiple endocrine neoplasia type I or Werner syndrome. What is important to know about surgery of a rate disease].

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a rare but misleading disease. The diagnosis is evocated when two main lesions are present (parathyroid, endocrine pancreas, pituary gland) but also when a family tree shows recurrent lesions. Other lesions must be taken into account (adrenal glands, neuroendocrine thymic or bronchic lesions, cutaneous lesions, lipomas, nervous central system tumors). Any surgical cure without knowing the MEN1 background leads to failure. Specific treatment of each lesion is reviewed. Genetic diagnosis is possible but the mutation is not found in all cases. Nevertheless, when the mutation is known in a family, a negative genetic test allows to exclude the disease. Prognosis is related to hepatic metastases and to thymic neuroendocrine tumors which are rare (2.1%) but aggressive. As a general rule, any apparently isolated endocrine lesion such hyperparathyroidism must prompt the surgeon to look for another endocrine lesion and to look for an abnormal family tree with recurent monoglandular or pluriglandular lesions.