Identifying early postoperative serum parathyroid hormone levels as predictors of hypocalcaemia after total thyroidectomy: A prospective non-randomized study

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Parathyroid Hormone (PTH 1-84) in this randomized controlled trial publication.

There is no clear cut-off value of serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) or calcium in which patients are at risk for hypocalcemia after total thyroidectomy.

The researchers evaluated the usefulness of serum calcium and PTH concentration measurements after total thyroidectomy in predicting late-occurring hypocalcemia.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 143 patients were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are young adults, adults, middle-aged adults, older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

A prospective, single-center, non-randomized longitudinal cohort study of 143 patients undergoing thyroidectomy between August 2019 and December 2019 with serum calcium and PTH levels sampled 1 h after surgery and on the first and fifth postoperative day.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Parathyroid Hormone (PTH 1-84) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

The primary outcome measure was presence of hypocalcemia on the first and fifth postoperative day, analyzed by a logistic regression model.

The PTH cut-off value for prediction of hypocalcemia was identified using a ROC curve comparing all three time points using the Youden J index.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Age Factors, Biomarkers, Calcium, Hypocalcemia, Neck Dissection, Parathyroid Hormone and Postoperative Complications.

Author keywords: Predictive value of tests, ROC curve and Thyroidectomy.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Parathyroid Hormone (PTH 1-84) in 143 patients.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 3 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2020 (American journal of otolaryngology), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Parathyroid Hormone (PTH 1-84) compound page, all human trials.