Use of technetium Tc 99m sestamibi and iodine 123 radionuclide scan for preoperative localization of abnormal parathyroid glands in primary hyperparathyroidism.

The imaging methods currently used to localize the parathyroid gland in patients with hyperparathyroidism have been criticized as unreliable and even misleading. We evaluated a new imaging technique that uses technetium Tc 99m sestamibi and iodine 123. We studied 21 patients having a diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism and no previous parathyroid surgery. Scintigraphy to localize the abnormal parathyroid was done before operation. A solitary adenoma was localized in 14 patients. Six patients had images consistent with diffuse hyperplasia, and one patient had a dual adenoma. The surgical and histologic findings confirmed the preoperative data. The sensitivity of this method is 87.5%, the specificity is 100%, and the predictive value is 100%. This new method of preoperative localization of abnormal parathyroid glands is useful in patients having initial neck exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism.