Parathyroid carcinoma as a challenging diagnosis: report of three cases.

Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is a rare malignancy with an indolent but progressive course. This rare tumour is often difficult to diagnose preoperatively, thus limiting the efficacy of surgery. As long-term survival is largely dependent on the extent of the primary surgical resection, it is of great importance to consider PC in the differential diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism. We herein report three PC patients with different clinical histories who were followed up at our hospital for over a 5-year period, emphasizing the variability in clinical presentation of this rare tumour. Moreover, NORA (Nucleolar Organizer Regions, a standardised silver-stain, marker of proliferation rate) values encountered in these PC patients confirm that AgNOR analysis may be regarded as an additional tool when the pathologist encounters difficulties in defining parathyroid lesions which are not clearly benign.

Parathyroid carcinoma presenting as normocalcemic hyperparathyroidism.

Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is a rare malignancy, with an indolent but progressive course. Long-term survival is largely dependent on the extent of the primary surgical resection. Hence, pre- or intraoperative suspicion of malignancy is of great importance. We describe the case of a 62-year-old woman with a 2-year history of asthenia and mental depression. Her past medical history was significant for osteoporosis. A diagnosis of primary normocalcemic hyperparathyroidism was established and the patient underwent surgery. PC was suspected intraoperatively because of the size and appearance of the parathyroid mass (a grayish, lobulated 3.5 cm mass). Thus, aggressive surgery (en bloc resection) was performed, along with bilateral neck exploration. Pathological examination of the specimens confirmed the suspicion of PC, demonstrating vascular invasion and extracapsular infiltration into adjacent soft tissue. Immunohistochemical staining revealed an elevated Ki-67 score (8.43%; cut-off value 5%). The mean area of silver-stained nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR) was high (4.972 µm(2)), indicating an elevated proliferation rate. Serum calcium and parathyroid hormone levels normalized postoperatively, and the patient's 5-year outcome was good. The present case provides evidence that parathyroid malignancy cannot be excluded a priori based on normocalcemic hyperparathyroidism, emphasizing the variability in clinical presentation. Moreover, Ki-67 expression and AgNOR analysis confirmed their additional value in complementing the histological evaluation of a parathyroid malignant mass.

Thyroid metastases from renal cell carcinoma: review of the literature.

The thyroid gland is a rare site of clinically detectable tumor metastasis and kidneys are frequently the site of the parent malignancy. In the present review on thyroid metastases from renal cell carcinoma, cases were searched on PubMed by entering the strings: "renal carcinoma [or "hypernephroma"] AND thyroid metastasis/metastases". Thus, we retrieved a total of 111 cases that were published between 1964 and 2007, a total that became 113 by adding two patients observed by us. The female to male ratio was 1.35:1. The primary renal cancer was almost always unilateral (90%) (with no significant side preference) and only rarely bilateral (9% in men, 4% in women), whereas bilaterality of thyroid metastases was relatively more frequent (28%). Thyroid metastasis from renal cancer was commonly single with a unique node that appears solid and hypoechoic at ultrasonography, approximately 9 years after nephrectomy. Concordance of lateralization was insignificantly greater for the right kidney/right thyroid lobe pattern (54%) than for the left kidney/left thyroid lobe pattern (40%), regardless of gender. Finally, survival was longer for women. Thyroid metastases, even if rare in the clinical practice, must be considered in the differential diagnosis of a thyroid nodule, particularly in patients who have a history of malignancies.

[Case report of a cervical thoracic duct cyst]. / Su di un caso di cisti del dotto toracico in regione cervicale.

After a number of anatomical considerations regarding the thoracic duct and the diseases that may affect it, the authors report that, in the literature, such cystic lesions of an iatrogenic nature are extremely rare in the cervical area. After discussing the diagnostic methods for a correct preoperative diagnosis, they address the surgical technique they used for removal of the lesion.