Ultrasonically guided fine-needle alcohol injection as an adjunct to medical treatment in secondary hyperparathyroidism.

In 12 uraemic patients with symptomatic secondary hyperparathyroidism, 13 parathyroid hyperplasias, detected by sonography and confirmed by fine-needle aspiration biopsy, were treated by ultrasonically-guided percutaneous injection of absolute ethanol, in order to reduce the gland mass. Only in the larger glands were significant volume reductions recorded, whereas in the smaller ones evident structural changes were observed. In most cases with single lesions, a reduced incidence of vitamin D hypercalcaemia and a permanent improvement in bone alkaline phosphatase and PTH were documented. This technique can be usefully employed either as an alternative to surgery in selected cases, or as support to medical therapy in single lesions.