[A lie which became the truth].

We describe a 54 year-old lady, on dialysis since 6 years, with severe hyperparathyroidism and multinodular goiter. After total thyroidectomy and subtotal parathyroidectomy a Tc-99 scan revealed multiple bone lesions consistent with metastatic disease. In the following weeks the patient general conditions and bone pain markedly improved and alkaline phosphatase returned to normal levels. Biopsy of a bone lesion revealed that the scintigraphic pattern was a false positive result due to hyperparathyroidism.