Reoperation for persistent or recurrent primary hyperparathyroidism.

The paper gives a summary of the intraoperative findings in 38 patients who underwent a reoperation for persistent or recurrent primary hyperparathyroidism. The reasons for failure of the first intervention were inexperience of the surgeon, ectopic and supernumerary glands, parathyreomatosis and true recurrence. Careful localization studies are mandatory in the preoperative work-up of these patients.