Acceso usuarios
Objetivo Identificar la presencia de hipercalcemia y de criterios de tratamiento quirúrgico (CTQ) no identificados desde al menos un año antes de su remisión a endocrinología en pacientes operados de HPTP. Valorar si este retraso terapéutico se asocia a mayor morbilidad.
Métodos Estudio observacional en 116 pacientes consecutivos. Mediante la revisión de los registros anteriores a 12 meses previos a su derivación a endocrinología se dividieron en 4 grupos: hipercalcemia con CTQ (grupo 1, n=43), hipercalcemia sin CTQ (grupo 2, n=23), calcemias normales (grupo 3, n=18) o ausencia de calcemias en dichos registros (grupo 4, n=32).
Resultados En 84 pacientes (72,4%) había calcemias previas, 66 (56,9%) con hipercalcemia, de ellos 43 (37%) con CTQ no valorados. La demora media hasta su remisión fue de 57 meses. Casi la mitad de las calcemias del grupo 1 procedían de urgencias. Respecto al grupo 4 los pacientes del grupo 1 tenían menor edad, mayor incidencia de nefrolitiasis e insuficiencia renal al remitírseles. Las calcemias en el momento de su derivación eran similares, superiores a las de los grupos 2 y 3.
Discusión Los pacientes con HPTP y CTQ se remiten a endocrinología con un retraso medio de 5 años. La inadvertencia de la hipercalcemia y/o el desconocimiento de los CTQ retrasan esta derivación, determinada por hipercalcemias superiores, y se asocian a una afectación renal más severa. Son precisas medidas correctoras para evitar este retraso en el diagnóstico y curación del HPTP.
Introduction Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) remains underdiagnosed among patients with hypercalcemia, potentially causing increased morbidity.
Objective To identify in surgically operated patients the presence of overlooked hypercalcemia and patients with criteria for surgery (CFS) for PHPT at least one year prior to referral to Endocrinology, and to determine whether this diagnostic delay leads to increased morbidity.
Methods An observational study was carried out in 116 consecutive patients. We evaluated electronic medical records registered at least 12 months prior to referral and divided them in four groups: hypercalcemia with CFS (group 1), hypercalcemia without CFS (group 2), normocalcemia (group 3), and cases without previous biochemical evaluation (group 4).
Results A total of 84 patients (72.4%) had a previous measurement of serum calcium at a time interval of ≥ 12 months. Sixty-six (56.9%) had hypercalcemia and 43 of them (37%) had ≥ 1 CFS, with an average delay of 57 months in receiving proper evaluation. Almost half of the calcemia measurements in group 1 had been made in the emergency room. Patients from group 1 were younger, and had a greater frequency of nephrolithiasis and renal impairment than patients in group 4. The serum calcium values at referral were similar in both groups and higher than the values found in patients from the other two groups.
Discussion In patients with PHPT and CFS, referral to an endocrinologist is made with an average delay of almost 5 years. The identified causes of this delay, which conditions more kidney disease, are unrecognized hypercalcemia and/or unawareness of the surgical criteria, while calcium elevations promote referral. Interventions are needed to avoid this delay in the diagnosis and resolution of PHPT.
