Needle in a haystack-parathyroid gland in a 10-day old infant: a case report and literature review.

Neonatal severe primary hyperparathyroidism (NSPHT) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of calcium homeostasis. It presents shortly after birth and is characterized by striking hyperparathyroidism, marked hypercalcemia, and hyperparathyroid bone disease. It is caused by mutations of the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR), the ionized calcium sensor for the parathyroid cells, the parafollicular thyroid C cells, and the kidney epithelium, as well as cells in bone and intestine. Without early intervention, which frequently requires surgical removal of the hyperplastic parathyroids, the patients often succumb to complications of hypercalcemia and respiratory failure. Finding the parathyroid gland in small neonates is not an easy task. Here we report on a patient with neonatal hyperparathyroidism who was treated by total parathyroidectomy and discuss the various ways of helping to find the parathyroid glands during surgery at this young age.