Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the value of using color and power Doppler sonography to reveal extrathyroidal feeding arteries in the detection of abnormal parathyroid glands.
Subjects and methods: Forty-four patients with primary hyperparathyroidism were imaged prospectively with high-resolution gray-scale, color flow, and power Doppler sonography. The presence of extrathyroidal arteries supplying the adenomas was noted. All patients underwent subsequent neck exploration. The locations of the abnormal glands were recorded.
Results: At surgery, 51 abnormal parathyroid glands were removed in the 44 patients. Sonography correctly revealed an adenoma in 40 of the 44 patients. Likewise, sonography revealed 42 of the 51 adenomas. Nine false-negative and two false-positive interpretations of the sonograms were made. Thus, overall sensitivity was 83%, specificity was 98%, and accuracy was 94%. Three of the false-negative interpretations were ectopic glands within the superior mediastinum. Excluding these three glands from analysis, the sensitivity for detection of adenomas within the neck was 88%, specificity was 98%, and accuracy was 95%. An extrathyroidal artery leading to a parathyroid adenoma was seen in 35 of the 42 adenomas revealed by sonography. The presence of an extrathyroidal artery leading to an adenoma was found to aid in the detection of an otherwise inconspicuous parathyroid gland in five patients, which improved sensitivity from 73% to 83%.
Conclusion: Prominent vessels supplying parathyroid adenomas are frequently revealed by color flow and power Doppler sonography. These vessels can serve as "road maps" to abnormal parathyroid glands.