Christian Medical College Vellore
To calculate the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of dual phase parathyroid sintigraphy in the localisation of parathyroid pathology
This study is a retrospective analysis of data of 227 patients who underwent parathyroid scintigraphy with 99mTc-MIBI/tetrofosmin between July 1998 and July 2006 at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated using standard formulae. Biochemical parameters were Serum Parathormone and corrected Serum calcium values. True positives were defined as biochemically proven primary hyperparathyroidism and who were scan positive. True negatives were those whose biochemical parameters and scan findings were negative. False positives were patients who had positive scans but were biochemically negative. False negatives were patients with negative scan and were biochemically positive.
The sensitivity was 85%, specificity was 84% and the positive predictive value was 96%. Recently the surgical approach had been modified to image guided minimally invasive procedure.
Scintigraphy is an effective tool to localize parathyroid pathology for a successful image guided minimally invasive surgery.
